The NBA is officially back on, and we may already have our first style star of the season.
The Lakers played their season-opening game on Tuesday night against the Denver Nuggets, but LeBron James was balling before he hit the court, wearing head-to-toe Louis Vuitton.
Lebron James at the Louis Vuitton Spring 2024 Menswear Collection Runway Show on June 20, 2023, in Paris. (Photo by Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty Images)
On Tuesday, Louis Vuitton unveiled billboards in New York City featuring James, unofficially announcing him as the label’s newest ambassador, following Rihanna in June. Fittingly, the forward arrived at Denver’s Ball Arena dressed in a custom “Damoflage” tweed collarless jacket with pearl buttons, worth about $5K from the Pharrell Williams-designed Spring-Summer 2024 collection, black trousers worth $1.2K, and black derby shoes worth about $1.25K, according to TMZ.
James, who was in the front row this spring for Williams’ Louis Vuitton debut in Paris, shouted out the collaboration on Instagram. He completed the look with a pair of the label’s Super Vision sunglasses, black Beats by Dre headphones, and Louis Vuitton’s $11K emerald green Speedy bag slung over his shoulder. Altogether, the look had a price tag of nearly $28K.
A model wears Louis Vuitton Men’s “Damoflage” tweed collarless jacket on the runway during the Louis Vuitton Spring 2024 Menswear Collection Runway Show on June 20, 2023, in Paris. (Screenshot: Louis Vuitton/YouTube)
Each season, fans have come to expect NBA players throughout the league to make headlines not just for their talent on the court but their style off of it. Last year, players like 76ers players James Harden, PJ Tucker, and Kelly Oubre Jr., along with fellow Lakers player D’Angelo Russell, earned spots on best-dressed lists alongside James.
Several of the NBA’s biggest style stars owe their sartorial game to celebrity stylist and visual architect Kesha McLeod. During her extensive career, McLeod has worked with a wide variety of star athletes, including James, Harden, Tucker, and even the 2023 CFDA Awards Style Icon, Serena Williams. McLeod also told Complex that she prides herself on her influence in pushing the boundaries of sports and fashion. She explained how she’s constantly searching for new brands for her clients, keeps track of IG accounts like LeagueFits, and tries her best to stay ahead of the game.
“I don’t just take it as one-dimensional. It’s like a 4-D over here,” she said. “We don’t have another James, and we don’t have another PJ after all these years. So I guess I did something right.”
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