Wilson was WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2018, was named the league MVP in 2020 and 2022, and won the championship in 2022.
If Wilson played in the NBA, she could have bought a signature shoe long ago, on-field footwear designed with the players. More than twenty NBA players have them.
Marketers have largely ignored the women’s competition for years. But Wilson’s star fought side by side with the league she joined, and in early 2023, Nike finally told her that it plans to create an iconic shoe for her.
“She said. “She said the program remains secret, and her fans were angry when Wilson continued to dominate the court – winning another title in 2023 – without any news about the shoes. Last May, Nike announced that her signature shoes would be released in the year of the month, which is first-year, first-year, first-year. With 1,000 points in a season, she won the third MVP award, was named one of Time Magazine’s Women of the Year, and retired by the University of South Carolina.
A’One went on sale on Tuesday with a “pink halo” version that made Wilson the first black WNBA player to have signature shoes since 2011.
“It’s time for people to wear shoes, see shoes from people like me, considering that it’s been a long time, it’s from the black female athletes in this world,” she said. “I’m grateful.”
The 28-year-old spoke near Saint-Germain-Des-Prés in Paris, in a hotel suite overlooking the famous department store Le Bon Marché. Her 6-foot-4 frame wore a sportswoman’s sweat uniform, with jewelry on both sides of her ears and nose. She represents Nike. It was Men’s Fashion Week, so, outside the hotel, the photographer was waiting for celebrities to appear behind the ropes.
The rise of the WNBA
WNBA players are now bigger stars than ever before, and even early in the 1990s league, players like Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes became household names. The popularity of rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese attracted popularity last season. Brands are eager to catch up.
This revival also occurs in the footwear industry, where brands strive to profit from products related to female athletes.
In 1995, the first WNBA player to make her signature shoes was the Swoopes. Nike’s air wave had a back label on her back, making it easy for her to wear long nails that she liked to exercise. Nike has made seven versions, the most done version any female player has ever done so far.
According to the database retained by ESPN, eight other WNBA players released signature shoes between 1995 and 2001. In 2005 and 2006, Nike made shoes for Diana Taurasi, who starred in the University of Connecticut. For the American Women’s National Team; and Phoenix Mercury. After her shoes, Nike didn’t make another shoe with the women’s basketball player until 2023.
Nike is not alone. According to ESPN’s database, in 2011, Adidas did not have WNBA signature shoes when it released its products with Candace Parker. Industry observers say there is not much market.
Matt Powell, a retail analyst at BCE Consulting, said women models make up a small part of the basketball shoe business, partly because many female basketball players prefer to wear men’s shoes.
“It costs a lot of money to develop shoes and then build shoes,” Powell said. “If sales aren’t huge, that’s the history we’ve seen, any brand is the same, ‘How much investment can we make here?'”
Everything started to change when girls’ college basketball became more and more popular. Social media allows players to create personal brands, and in 2021, the NCAA has changed the rules to enable athletes to take advantage of name, image, and similarity (NIL) transactions, thereby increasing their visibility for ads and other ads.
The radio channel also helps: ESPN started the TV NCAA Women’s Championship in 1996, but the championship game was not broadcast on its radio network until 2023. REESE’s Louisiana State University beat Clark’s Iowa Championship and attracted nearly 10 million viewers.
According to Nelson, the 2024 championship game attracted 18.9 million viewers and beat the men’s championship game about 4 million. This interest has flowed into the WNBA when players moved there too.
In July 2023, Nielsen reported a widespread increase in interest in women’s movement. It also said the audience under investigation was frustrated by the lack of live women’s movement and lack of media coverage.
“Sneaker companies are always responding to the public, and they are always responding to what they are popular at a given time,” said Brandon Wallace, an assistant professor at Indiana University.
Sabrina Ionescu’s shoes appeared in 2023, her fourth WNBA season, all in the New York Freestyle. This is Nike’s first shoe, one of the most popular shoes for NBA players in the game. Players say they like the look of it, which includes intricate embroidery and customizable colors, as well as the feel on the feet. The structure is similar to Kobe Bryant’s shoes, which revolutionized the industry.
Nick DePaula, a journalist covering the sports shoes industry, said he hopes Wilson is also popular among men – partly because of its design (he quotes “grip, support and lightweight elements”), and partly out of solidarity.
“She has worn out for years and supported his boundaries,” DePra said. “There are a lot of players who are personally excited for her.”
Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo has a romantic connection with Wilson and has worn shoes in the game before it was released.
Industry analyst Powell also said he believes Wilson’s shoes will be good in women’s basketball shoes, partly due to increased interest in the WNBA and partly due to its relatively low price. Sizes for adults $110, $90 for children, while James’ signature shoes are $190, and Sabrina 2 $130.
Caitlin Clark Comparison Games
The launch of Wilson’s shoes is not without controversy.
It sparked a fire in April 2024 when Nike planned to plan a pair of signature shoes for Clark and then entered its rookie season with an Indiana fever.
News about Wilson shoes has not been made public yet. Her fans want to know that racism played a role in giving Wilson a more professional Wilson shoes Clark, especially since the only other active players with signature shoes – Ionescu and two-time MVP Breanna Stewart are white.
Others point to Clark’s popularity: She is selling the arena and causing opponents to move the game to a larger venue. She played the game recorded by the audience.
Strangers debate Wilson’s merits. Some say her personality is not charming enough, or her dramatic style lacks charm. Front court players are sometimes considered less sold because their playing style is usually less flashy.
“I’m having a hard time navigating it just because in my mind, I thought, ‘Yeah, I know the shoes are coming, but I really have nothing to share,” Wilson said. “And keep having those conversations and constantly dragging my name into the mud and then getting my resume to the mud, it’s really hard.”
When announcing the shoes, Nike tended to controversy: Wilson was wearing a sweatshirt that said, “Of course I have shoe points com.”
Now, some writers and fans are wondering why Clark isn’t having shoes with Wilson.
Ethan Strauss, a well-known alternative sports columnist, suggested that Nike delayed Clark’s shoes due to Wilson’s upcoming product, calling it a “company accident” to avoid cashing in on Clark’s popularity.
Tanya Hvizdak, vice president of global sports marketing at Nike, said Nike has not postponed Clark’s Wilson shoes. She said it took time to make an iconic shoe and disagrees with the feature that Wilson was awarded the shoe to take too long.
“I’m going to say that we’ve been supporting women’s basketball players for 40 years,” Hvizdak said.
Analyst Powell said Nike’s recent struggle as a business and its overhaul last year were also inspiring.
With Nike’s stock price falling and cultural relevance falling, its board of directors announced in September that its CEO John Donahue had a sudden retirement and said Elliott Hill would replace him. Hill worked at the company for 32 years before retiring in 2020.
“I think if Elliott was at the helm, we would have seen Caitlin’s shoes faster,” Powell said. “His ex didn’t appreciate the value of the product and the recognition.”
Nike is expected to announce shoes with Paige Bueckers soon, the first pick in this year’s WNBA draft. Reese, who works for Chicago Sky, wore shoes with Reebok and has released lifestyle shoes for everyday outfits.
Entering fashion
It confuses people close to Wilson because marketing opportunities are slower than her basketball praises.
“She is a supporter,” said teammate Sydney Colson, who has been with the past three seasons, one of Wilson’s closest friends. “It’s not even just superstars, but there are very few people like this.”
Wilson decorates his teammate’s locker for his teammate’s birthday and celebrates the cake every year for her gay teammates. Last year’s Pride Cake was pink with a disco ball, rainbow frosting and lettering, cleverly saying, “Your gays.”
Wilson was also outspoken. When James signed a $154 million contract with the Lakers in his rookie year, she posted a tweet saying the WNBA’s best hope is only $1 million. At the time, the league’s top players were paid $115,500. Wilson will earn $200,000 this season, which will open on May 16.
Nike and Wilson declined to comment on their overall deal size, but The Wall Street Journal and Sports reported that Clark’s Nike deal was worth $28 million over eight years.
Wilson did not shy away from discussing the effects of race on why it is sometimes called unsellable.
“It’s 100% of the game,” she said. “It’s one of the things we can sit there and say, but there’s always a portrait, ‘Okay, no, you just do it in the game.'”
As new opportunities develop, Wilson uses them to develop her image. She is particularly inclined to the recent embrace of her in the fashion world. For example, Vogue and GQ showed her last month in a spread related to Met Gala in New York City.
Nike’s collection includes single-legged leggings, such as those popular in Wilson in the WNBA, leggings made of pink, and hot pink sweatshirts with satin-lined hoods (because her mother was tired of seeing her wearing a hat at the airport, Wilson said).
Last year, when she participated in her book Dear Black Girls, her team came into contact with designer Sergio Hudson, who wore Michelle Obama, former Vice Presidents Kamala Harris, Beyoncé, Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez – equipped her with her.
He knew Wilson was stylish and he loved the idea of supporting WNBA players, especially one from his hometown of South Carolina.
“When I saw her walking out of the first outfit she made for her, I was like, ‘This girl is the star.'” Hudson said.
“At the time, it’s not what it is now,” he said. “It was like a change overnight, WNBA girls are the main celebrities and everyone wants to wear clothes.”
