Dwyane Wade Continues to Score in the Fashion World

If someone were too say the name, Dwyane Wade, the first thing that comes to someone’s mind is most likely basketball related. Dwyane Wade is a basketball star which is how he rose to fame. He is a 12- time All-Star and a three-time champion. What many people don’t know is that Dwyane Wade is more than just a basketball icon; he is also fortified fashion icon.

 

One of Wade’s favorite designers to wear is Tom Ford. He has been seen at numerous events wearing Tom Ford suits and even has a Tom Ford candle in his bedroom. Wade has so much love for top name designers which has inspired him to wanting to start his own label so he can have others wearing his designs.

 

Wade said when he started to become interested in fashion; his teammates would ask him what his end vision was. His reply was always that he wanted to see people dressed head to toe in his very own fashion label. His dream would be hearing someone be asked who they are wearing, and they say it was designed by Wade.

 

When it comes to fashion, Wade said he is always learning. In terms has his role in the fashion world he feels he is no master, but rather a student who is always eager to find out what else this world has to offer. He finds it to be a humbling transitioning, going from being one of the greatest basketball players to moving into a totally new realm where he is no longer one of the “greatest” or at the top.

 

Wade still is not sure the exact direction he wants to take his fashion line, but he has started with some things. He has started a line for ties, socks, underwear, shoes and athletic apparel. Dwyane takes time making sure each design his perfectly put together before he allows it to go out on sale.

 

He collaborates on this line with Li-Ning. For his shoes, he works with designer Eric Miller, who is based out of Portland. Wade goes through different ideas with Miller so they can come up with the perfect design for the shoes and then they choose the best materials to be used. Miller then will get everything together and compose the shoe then come back with the finished product. For everything else Li-Ning, that includes his apparel line and lifestyle shoes, he works directly with a team in China.

 

One of Dwyane’s most successful accessory lines is his collaboration with Stance Socks. This company is the official sock for the NBA and had their eyes on Wade when wanting to partner with an NBA player. Wade usually will work and design these socks 13 to 16 months before they hit the shelves. Wade will send his ideas to the company and they will send back a vision board with designs for approval. There is a lot of back and forth that takes place before they come to an agreement on the best designs to move forward with, and the ones they feel reflect Wade’s style the best.

 

With all the different items he is working on now, it may not have turned into a Tom Ford, but he is certainly respected in the fashion industry. So much has changed for Wade throughout his career. When he first got into fashion he was calling designers left and right but that all changed and he is the one receiving the phone calls. In his early career, he would ask shops if he could wear their clothing and now he can walk into any top designer store and be greeted with shelves and racks full of clothes. Also, when he travels to places such as Paris or Milan, he is seated in the front row of fashion shows next to other style icons such as Anna Wintour and David Beckham.

 

Even with all this success, he still feels it may be a little while before people are wearing Dwyane Wade suits. With basketball still taking up most of his time, it is hard to fully focus solely on fashion at the moment. And even though his fashion career may never end up being as successful as his basketball one, he is not going to let that stop him from giving it a try.

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