Look of the Week: Prada recruits Caitlin Clark on WNBA draft night

By Jacqui Palumbo, CNN

(CNN) — On the whirlwind night that saw the stars of the most-watched season of women’s college basketball officially move forward to their professional careers, players stepped out in style in sumptuous gowns and smart tailoring, elevating the WNBA draft into a full-on fashion event.

And while Caitlin Clark, the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer across men’s and women’s basketball, was snapped up as the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever, another brand had already made a move to bring her into its circle: Prada, who dressed her for the event.

Wearing an unbuttoned satin shirt and mini skirt combo with a rhinestone mesh crop top, shades and black pumps, the former Iowa Hawkeyes point guard became the first basketball player to be dressed by the luxury label for draft night. (Though, in a relatable swap, she was photographed in Uggs hours later during a post-draft interview.)

In previous years, dress codes at the draft had tended to lean toward daytime suiting and dresses, but on Monday night it was clear that the stakes had been raised.

Stanford’s Cameron Brink, who was drafted to the Los Angeles Sparks, arrived in a black-and-white high-slit Balmain gown; Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson, who will join Brink in LA, opted for a red pantsuit with floating illusion sleeves and a side train. South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso, who helped earn her team the championship at the end of an undefeated season, wore a plunging red suit. Both she and LSU’s Angel Reese, who sparkled in a hooded design by Bronx and Banco, will head to the Chicago Sky.

Prada’s move to dress Clark is likely a sign of luxury brands’ further expansion into the sport. While sportswear brands have always vied for judicious partnerships with elite athletes, the basketball court has also increasingly become the domain of high fashion labels, with NBA players’ pre-game entrances, called “tunnel walks,” becoming runways of their own.

And with more eyes eagerly watching women’s basketball — Clark, Cardoso, Reese and their peers helped attract record-breaking TV audiences this past year to the NCAA, while the WNBA enjoyed its most-watched season in more than two decades — the time is ripe for more high-end labels to stake their claim.

Earlier this year, stylist Jazmine Motley-Maddox, who dresses WNBA teammates and power couple DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas, commented on the shift among professional female athletes to The Cut, saying: “I don’t think before, especially in the WNBA, girls were hiring stylists to dress them to go to the game. Designer brands now jump at the chance because they know this will be publicized, styled, and shown to millions.”

Ahead of the draft, Clark called her collaboration with Prada “pretty special,” in a red-carpet interview (though, technically, said carpet was orange-colored) with the WNBA.

“I think the biggest thing is I’m just very lucky to be in this moment,” she told CNN at the event, reflecting back on the past two months.

“When things might get tiring or you have to do stuff, I think the biggest thing is look at it just as an opportunity. This isn’t something everybody gets to do,” she added. “It’s once in a lifetime, and (I’m) just trying to soak in every single experience.”

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