Fashion Briefing: The WNBA is more popular than ever, but fashion brands are silent on the issue of fair pay – Charm

This week, an in-depth look at the recent player protest in the WNBA over their salaries, which are low when considering the league’s growing popularity. Despite the broad support among fans and the celebrity status of many of the players, fashion brands have been notably silent on the protest.

At the WNBA All-Star game this past weekend, all the talk was about what the players were wearing. But rather than focusing on the designer looks from brands like Loewe that the WNBA players have become known to wear, the conversation instead focused on the plain black T-shirts they wore to warm up. Every player and coach wore a shirt with the slogan: “Pay Us What You Owe Us.”

The words have become a rallying cry for the women of the WNBA, which has seen its viewership numbers and cultural cachet skyrocket while athletes’ average pay remains startlingly low. This has led the athletes to rely even more on the brand deals and fashion sponsorships that come with being part of the league to supplement their income. But the message at the All-Star Game revealed a tension within the league. Overall, players are more valuable than ever to fashion brands — yet many brands have been silent on the issue of fair wages.

“It’s not just about equal salaries, it’s about equal opportunity to grow in the league we helped build,” said Kristine Anigwe, a former WNBA player who left the league in 2023 to play in the EuroLeague.

Anigwe is also a stylist who works with current WNBA players Tiffany Hayes and Cameron Brink, a consultant who helps women’s basketball players establish their personal brands and business strategies off the court, and the founder of a custom fashion line called KA Originals, which is set to launch its first bridal collection later this year. All of these jobs leverage skills that Anigwe said she had to learn to compensate for the low salary that WNBA players earn.

The average WNBA player’s salary is around $127,000, according to Claudia Goldin, an economist who is advising the WNBA Players Association. For the NBA, it’s over $10 million. But it’s not just about absolute numbers. The WNBA still brings in less revenue than the NBA — but the proportions are unequal, as well. In the NBA, NFL and NHL, around 50% of the total revenue generated by the league goes to players. In the WNBA, it’s only 9%. Despite this, the WNBA keeps growing, with TV ratings and ticket sales up 23% and 26%, respectively, this year.

“These are tangible numbers,” Anigwe said, pointing to figures like the 500% increase in merchandise revenue for the WNBA that has not trickled down to players.

Meanwhile, for the brands that partner with WNBA players, business is booming. Caitlin Clark’s signature Nike sneakers sold out in minutes in June when they were released, and now they’re reselling for double their retail value.

Alex Lotier, CEO of the sneaker media company Culture Media (formerly Culture Kicks), told Glossy that there’s immense buzz around WNBA footwear.

“Between Caitlin’s Nike V Protros, Angel Reese’s new ‘Mebound’ sneakers, and NBA players like Jrue Holiday, Tyrese Haliburton, Jalen Brunson, Payton Pritchard and Derrick Lively all wearing Sabrina Ionescu’s signature shoe last season, WNBA player footwear is hotter than anything coming out of the NBA right now,” he said.

But Lotier said he’s skeptical that any of the brands who are benefiting from the WNBA’s starpower will make a statement in support of the players. As of Wednesday evening, none of the major fashion brands who have worked with players like Reese or Clark have made any public statement about the protest. Multiple brands that have worked with WNBA players, including Etsy and Skims, either declined to comment on the issue of athlete pay for this story or did not respond to a request for comment. The “Pay Us What You Owe Us” shirt worn by the players has been officially licensed by the WNBA Players Association and is available for purchase to the public, where there has been broad support for the players.

But many of the brands that work with WNBA players have waded into cultural debates in the past. Nike famously stood behind Colin Kaepernick when he was criticized for kneeling during the national anthem. When brands partner with WNBA players or the league, they often couch it in language about empowering women, equality and breaking barriers.

“Our brand DNA is rooted in inclusivity, representation and women’s empowerment, which are values shared with the WNBA,” Kim Kardashian said in a press release when the Skims collaboration with the WNBA was released last year.

On the men’s side of sports, brands like Nike and Reebok have navigated labor disputes between players and leagues mostly by staying out of it, according to Geoff Miller, senior director at global branding consultancy Interbrand.

“This is a risky approach in the women’s game, with many companies sponsoring leagues, teams and players because these partnerships provide opportunities to associate their own brands with equality and positive change beyond sports,” Miller said.

“Do brands need to make big political statements? Not necessarily,” said Julie Matos, a stylist who has worked with celebrities like Sofia Vergara and Gwyneth Paltrow. “But they do need to move with intention, fair contracts, co-created campaigns and transparency in partnerships. Staying neutral right now just isn’t a good look.”

Stat of the week

The tech companies Reach3 Insights and Rival Technologies released a joint report this week on back-to-school shopping, for which they surveyed shoppers in the U.S. and Canada. The verdict? Despite gains in the market, 27% of Americans and 25% of Canadians plan to cut back on back-to-school purchases this year.

The shopping they will do will likely be on the smaller-scale side. Sixty-one percent of Americans and 55% of Canadians said they’re unlikely to make a big-ticket purchase in the near future.

News to know

The CFDA released the calendar for this fall’s New York Fashion Week. Notably, the event will see the return of Alexander Wang to the schedule — the designer has not shown at NYFW since 2018.
The U.S. reached a unique and unprecedented trade deal this week that will potentially see the Japanese government create a $500 million investment fund for President Trump to direct at his discretion. Most notably for fashion brands like Commes des Garcons and Issey Miyake, which produce their clothing in Japan, the deal would settle tariffs on Japanese goods at 15%.
Skims is deepening its connection to women’s sports this week by becoming an official sponsor of League One Volleyball. Skims has previously been a sponsor of the WNBA.