It’s tough to stand out in professional basketball. It’s even tougher to stand out in the professional basketball tunnel. Far more than any fashion runway or red carpet, the professional basketball tunnel has become a true measure of style. If you can flex in the tunnel, you can flex anywhere. And Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can definitely flex in the tunnel.
For Shai, his creativity in fashion was first sparked when he was a kid hanging out at the mall. “I loved shopping at a young age. Even if I didn’t buy anything, I was going to the mall just to look at clothes.” By the time he’d reached professional basketball, he’d not only honed his fade away jumper, he’d honed his off-court style. To the point that he was even crowned “Drip King” by his fellow player Tristan Thompson.
And while Shai always puts on a show both on and off the court, when it comes to his style, it’s all about comfort. “It’s got to look good and be comfortable,” he says. Which, with his Levi’s® jeans, means a baggier fit. “Slimmer fitting jeans are a little bit tighter and less comfortable,” he says. Whereas the Levi’s® 501®, with it’s classic straight leg, can be worn looser and oversized, giving it the baggy fit that Shai prefers. And while he likes to pair his Levi’s® with Converse or Nike Air Force Ones, he’s also a master at the high-low approach to denim. “I feel like with denim, you can dress up or down. It just gives you so many options, mixing and matching.”
As for how Shai defines his own hall-of-fame drip? “It’s more than just what you put on in terms of clothes. It’s how you wear them, the confidence when you wear them.”
We caught up with Shai on the set of our 501® Originals Campaign shoot, see what he has to say.