LeBron James, Thom Browne, and the New Team Uniform
On Friday, April 20th, the Cleveland Cavaliers arrived at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for Game 3 of their playoff series vs. the Pacers wearing matching Thom Browne suit ensembles. I smiled at this marriage of two disparate interests, though the two have quite a bit more history than one would expect. Since the menswear revolution of the late aughts, NBA players have cultivated a taste for flamboyant, trendy, and often downright stylish clothing. The NBA, being the dynamic cultural institution that it is, capitalized on this phenomenon by featuring the style-choices of its players in an “NBA Style” campaign across television, the internet, and most importantly social media. Broadcast networks began putting cameras in the underbellies of arenas across the country to document players’ clothing choices upon arrival for games and soon after, all that footage was compiled on Instagram accounts specifically dedicated to that purpose.
From there, a culture of peacocking developed that remains unrivaled in American masculine culture, a game within a game in which players battle to see who can wear the most outlandish garments to games.* Combine this with the simultaneous explosion of street wear and the ascendance of Hip-Hop culture and you have a potent recipe for spectacle.
*Quick note, this phenomenon is visible in other leagues like the NFL but no other league promotes the individuality of its players more than the NBA.
The Cavaliers experiment is a turning point. Up until now, this exhibitionism was limited to the individual, but LeBron James, perhaps the most stylish player in the game (as opposed to the most flamboyant or adventurous), turned his taste for luxury fashion brands into a team statement. James enlisted top-designer Thom Browne to fit everyone on the Cavs (including, hilariously, eventually traded Cavs like Isaiah Thomas and Dwyane Wade) for bespoke suits, boots, and more from Browne’s eponymous label. I found this to be an incredibly fascinating amalgamation of fashion and sports-team dynamics, but the real reason for that is due to LeBron’s particular choice of designer, one that specifically emphasizes the idea of a team.
Thom Browne is known for a few things, but primarily for his avant-garde tailoring as well as his dramatic fashion shows. Browne’s label is a reflection of his interest in the “grey flannel suit” era of 1950s America, when the idea of corporate uniformity began to manifest itself in the sartorial choices of American men. Corporate attire as we’ve come to know it, with its dark suits, white shirts, and black shoes, came out of this era. Browne himself is nostalgic about the role of uniforms due to his distinctly American upbringing in Pennsylvania and college years at The University of Notre Dame. He rarely makes use of any embellishment in his dress and adheres to his own personal uniform. Google him and he will almost always be wearing a combination of the following; a suit in a sober color, black wing-tip lace-up shoes, no socks, a white oxford cloth shirt and a matching skinny tie and clip.
My one lament of the NBA-fashionista era is that due to the streetwear influx, being stylish often means wearing jeans and sneakers. Despite being deeply passionate about streetwear myself, I would love to see this new focus on clothes manifest itself more in the sphere of tailoring. Before the menswear revolution, players arrived to games wearing suits and ties, albeit ill-fitting and ugly ones. Despite the failure of execution, there’s something romantic about the idea of treating a basketball game as an event that calls for formal attire. I commend James for bringing back this aesthetic. Unfortunately, the cropped cut of Browne’s suits do not flatter the bodies of extremely tall and lanky men. They look a bit strange on players like Tristan Thompson who is 6' 9". Wearing a suit cut in such an avant-garde way is an experts-only move that I don’t think a lot of players are capable of making, but the adventurousness of it all is welcome. Of course, LeBron, who has an impossibly perfect figure, looks impeccable, which he admitted to ESPN when asked who looks the best… “Me. Of course I look the best. What kind of question is that?”
Regardless of how the suits look, there’s no question that the muted color palette and lack of embellishment are very suitable for a sports team. Did LeBron choose Browne specifically for Browne’s interest in the idea of corporate uniformity? Maybe, but regardless, it’s a fun coincidence if anything. That the initial fittings all took place before the trade deadline, when the team’s morale was at its worst, seems to suggest he did. That trade deadline culminated in a mid-season rebuild in which the Cavs replaced almost half their team in just a few hours. LeBron then carried this largely forgettable group all the way to his eighth consecutive NBA finals. Chemistry, egos, and team politics have been constant issues for the 2017–18 Cavs, so it’s fascinating to think of Browne’s suits as a way to emphasize team unity ahead of what was sure to be a tumultuous playoffs. Fast forward a month a half… the Cavs needed a cornucopia of LeBron heroics to overcome a 7 game series against the Pacers, a sweep of the NBA’s second best regular-season team in the raptors, and another surprise 7 game series against the injury-depleted Celtics, not to mention the ultimate challenge of Cavs-Warriors IV unfortunately resulting in a sweep.
While most will remember these playoffs for LeBron putting up career numbers in his fifteenth season at age thirty three, it’s also worth remembering the sartorial legacy of the league’s best player, and the way he’s shaping team uniforms for years to come.
