Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design

Alexandra Jerez

Pennoni Honors College

Custom-Designed Major

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joseph H. Hancock, II Design & Merchandising

One Man Can Be a Crucial Ingredient: The Importance of Male Basketball Players In Branded Mass Fashion

Since the first dribbles of basketball were taken in 1891, this sport has become a prominent part of mainstream American popular culture influencing such areas as sports, politics, economics, and most recently mass fashion. In this paper, sponsorship and partnership with fashion sportswear and the growth of basketball players as potential celebrity endorsers of brands within the fashion industry will be examined. Traditionally, basketball players such as Michael Jordan, have been used to promote athletic apparel. With the success for such items as the Air Jordan sneaker and the ability to tell a good fashion story (Hancock 2016), basketball players have become key branding elements. However research in how these players have been used for sportswear companies has been ignored. Publications such as Vogue, GQ, the New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar and Complex magazine have curated pieces that place importance of basketball players on and off the court.