Walking the Runway

One of my favorite parts about our time in Miami was the fashion.

I don’t know how it started exactly, but it always felt like a friendly competition between the Big Three. We all had our own styles, and they were all very different, which I loved. But my favorite part, especially during games, was seeing what these guys were going to wear on game days. In particular, Dwayne. I wanted to see what Dwayne Wade was going to wear, because I knew it was going to be something eclectic and something I’d never seen before.

During that time, fashion and the NBA started to merge in a way they hadn’t before, and I want to say we helped guide that. We had our stylists, we had our taste, and we had things we wanted to wear. Walking into the arena with all the cameras there, it was sort of like its own runway and we treated it that way.

For a while, I was really into the fashion world. I’d go to Fashion Week in New York at the end of every summer before the season started. It was like the last hangout before the season started. And through that, I got deep into the art of fashion. Meeting designers, visiting houses that have been around for decades crafting what people would wear around the world. Getting to know people who took their craft as seriously as any athlete takes theirs.

If you’ve ever been to a fashion show, it’s one of the most interesting things you’ll experience. People work for months and weeks, if not their whole lives, tirelessly for just a few minutes on the runway. You usually see the highlights on TV or online, the famous people sitting in the front row, the bizarre outfits designed to get attention. But being there in person is different. Watching a collection shown on models, listening to the music that was chosen to accompany it, taking in the ambience from the decorations to the way the runway is shaped. Everything is curated. Everything is intentional. It enhances and embodies the vision of the designer. That’s art.

New York is one of the Meccas for fashion. People move there specifically to work at different design houses and try their luck with ateliers and shops. We see fashion as a prominent cultural force now in a way that’s bigger than it’s ever been.

I always wanted to take a gentlemanly approach with my my own style. That’s why you always saw me in suits. If you look at the old pictures, I was always wearing suits, different jackets and trousers, dressing like a gentleman would. That was my playground. My way of expressing myself walking into the building. I’m not going to lie, it got challenging and expensive and uncomfortable after a while wearing all of that, but I enjoyed it. That was my version of self expression through clothing and I wanted to project that I was there to take care of business when I walked in an arena.

I’m in a different phase now. I’m a dad. I live where I live. My taste is always changing. I’m not as deep into it as I used to be, but it’s still a part of my daily life. Because the truth is, what you wear every day is a form of expression whether you think about it or not. It reflects how you feel, where you’re from, and what’s important to you.

I’m not telling you to go out and spend money on clothes or follow trends. I’m saying pay attention to yourself. Pay attention to the colors you’re drawn to, because that’s a palette. Pay attention to the cuts you like, the fabrics that feel right, the things that catch your eye when you’re scrolling or flipping through a magazine. Those preferences say something about who you are.

And know that you can dress for situations and feelings accordingly. How you present yourself to the world is a choice you make every morning. That choice is its own kind of art.