Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors have been one of the best teams in the NBA this season, improving to a West-leading 11-3 with a win over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night. That wasn’t the expectation for this Warriors team after seeing Klay Thompson depart for Dallas and failing to land a second star despite numerous trade rumors this summer, but Curry continues to play at an extremely high level to lead the way and Golden State’s depth is shining in the early season.
In his 16th season, Curry has kept evolving as a player, adapting to new teammates around him and continuing to stress defenses with his other-worldly shooting ability. Off the court, Curry has evolved plenty as well, becoming a major figure not only in the sports space but in the world of entertainment and general pop culture. This season, Curry is partnering with Rakuten and his stylist Jason Bolden on an initiative to highlight Black and Brown designers through his tunnel fits, and allowing fans to purchase the same pieces he wears to games in a curated hub on Rakuten and get cash back and rewards (available here).
Earlier this month, we got to talk with Curry and Bolden about the partnership, the evolution of Curry’s style from his first game “Peaky Blinders” outfit to now, finding himself suddenly at things like the Met Gala, looking beyond the big designers to find things that speak to your personal style and expression, and how he’s grown to have a greater appreciation for the work that goes into fashion now that he has Curry Brand.
Stephen, how would you say your style has evolved since you came into the league? You’re now 16 years in. When you look back at where you were in 2008, 2009 to where you are now in terms of your style and your approach to fashion, what’s changed for you?
SC: I think, just a little bit more intentional now than I was back in the past. I tried a lot of stuff over the years. My favorite fit, anytime anybody asks, I had my Peaky Blinders debut for my first NBA game, with the Kangol hat, the vest with the open button, almost like a tweed color material.
So like all the way from that to what I’m wearing now, and the different … usually stay on trend most the time, take some chances, but always for me, just want to be as comfortable as possible. And the intentionality is obviously why we’re talking around like the tunnel walk and how the energy in the league has changed. I never thought I’d be a participant at the Met Gala. Stuff like that has just, it’s evolved dramatically. My wife has a lot to do with that, and kind of her pushing me in different ways, and you know, her eye for fashion. So it’s been cool to just experiment and try new things and be in a place now where you kind of are expected to show up a certain way, and that’s kind of dope.
Jason, I mean, when you when you work with guys, something that’s fascinating for me is, fashion is such a personal expression thing, and as a stylist, how do you tap into that? And what are the conversations you have with people you’re styling about what they want to do, but also how you can kind of push them in directions that you think will accentuate their own personal styles?
JB: Using Stephen as an example, it’s just like you just watch his day-to-day life, and then to know him as a person, his style point of view is just, it’s classic, it’s easy. It’s what most guys lean towards. Like he has this kind of a classic Americana feel to him, but it’s super relatable. And I think for me, when I first met him, it was very obvious. Like, he liked fashion, but it wasn’t like a sole focus. And then it became this thing, speaking of the Met, it became this thing, like I saw the evolution of his excitement — [Curry laughs] — and being around other like minds. Fashion can be very intimidating, like basketball could be very intimidating for some people, and this was like a new world. But to see him, kind of collect friends and come back from the Met and talk about the people that he met and talked to, and it’s just like there’s that commonality.
I feel like sports, music, and fashion kind of have that commonality where people can actually connect on. So when it came to his style point of view, it was pretty easy. He likes classic, conventional, smart clothing, and I think you can look at like a lot of his tunnel walks that you see. He gives a point of view. He loves a tank top to layer. He loves to layer. Like, he loves the play on all of his sneakers, and, like, ripping colors from the sneakers, and how we kind of play with what we base that back to. I believe most people have a style point of view. They just need a little direction. And I think that’s exactly what we found with our relationship.
What was that process like for you, Stephen? You mentioned the intentionality now, and if it’s not something that was kind of front of mind at the beginning, how did that kind of evolve for you in terms of thinking more about it and having those conversations with someone like Jason? Because, like, it’s not something I think you necessarily think about, like, ‘What is my style?’ until it’s presented to you.
SC: No, for sure, even now, you see the adjectives he used, they make the most sense of how to explain what I tend to gravitate towards if I see something on the rack. And that’s kind of how the whole process was. He used the Met Gala as an example, but it was like the intimidating factor of, okay, there are so many different options. Obviously we went with Versace, but like, OK, what does that actually look alright? There’s all these different materials. How loud do you want to go? What kind of fit do you want? All those kind of questions. I’m great if I get to see it and like, Oh, I like this. I like that. I don’t like that. And then allow looks to kind of formulate from there. And that process has become pretty fun. But like, Jason will tell you, from the first fitting when you come in, you get overwhelmed with stuff.
JB: Oh, we have that recording, right? He looks — [laughs] oh, that’s a good one, I’m gonna use that against him.
SC: And now I kind of look forward to it, because the hard work’s done, because I know he knows me and knows exactly — not to say he’s going to force me to wear certain things, but it’s like, there’s a meet me halfway. Like, these are the kind of things I had in mind for you from a color perspective, a material perspective, a fit perspective. It might push me over my boundary, or whatever you want to call it, like the threshold I probably would have thought with some fits, but it’s like, when I look back, I’m like, I’m glad I tried that, because it was something different. So that whole process has been cool, and it’s been fun to now, in this partnership with Rakuten, and being able to do this where we can elevate and put some Black and Brown designers on the map, and allow their talent to shine with this relationship and the tunnel walk perspective. And for me, it just gave me another opportunity to have some fun and do something meaningful in the process.
Jason, you mentioned that Stephen’s style is pretty relatable. As you look at this partnership where people can buy those fits and what people would be able to do with it if they want to kind of copy that look, or get some things from that look. What do you think people from the outside can take away from what this will be, and kind of the things that you work on with him, in terms of styling and putting outfits together and bringing designers together and looking at different pieces?
JB: I think the special thing about this particular relationship with Rakuten is it’s so authentic to him, and just the way that he approaches everything with intentionality. There’s these moments of being so relatable, but there’s that piece of aspiration there too. So, to be in a relationship like that, where you’re able to service people in so many different ways, and give people opportunity to, kind of like live out their dreams and hopes and aspirations through clothing, right? But doing it in such a relatable way, but on such a huge stage. We get to see these looks go up and down the tunnels, and it’s like being able to celebrate these people or introduce new brands to consumers who may not know. So I think it just feels really good, and it feels very authentic. And the relationship with Stephen, Rakuten, myself and these other brands, I feel it’s needed, and it’s special, and why not celebrate it when you have these spaces and these opportunities to do it?
At a broad level, I think a lot of the focus in fashion is around the big brands and the big designers. How important is it, as somebody who … we talk about this is a thing of expression, and being able to show people you can find things from different designers, from people who have different perspectives that can maybe speak more to you authentically, as opposed to necessarily just trying to follow trends and big brands? And how important is that in something like this to show people like there’s great stuff you can find from all over and different kinds of people and different kinds of designers?
JB: I think fashion in itself is just, it’s a bonus to self expression, right? And being able to use these other brands that may not have the opportunity to have, you know, this massive, big brand exposure, I think it’s the perfect opportunity to constantly show people in a different way expression does not need to be from such a massive box. You can express yourself from so many different ways. And this particular partnership is just to kind of increase the visibility for that type of life, just for individuality.
Stephen, now that you have your own brand in Curry Brand, how has that changed how you think about fashion and design? Because now you are involved in that even more, and what has that relationship to the industry kind of brought to your mindset when you look at pieces and you look at kind of putting things together?
SC: I mean, beyond just the sense of pride of that, you realize how hard this industry is to be successful, to create a standard that you have to keep executing on and delivering, you know, every season. I think for me, the biggest thing is just the design team — the designers, the people that Jason was just talking about — from Curry Brand side, there’s so many people behind the scenes that are having to, you know, from scratch, source the material, create these looks, create the trends, create, just the design language of what it means to rock Curry Brand. And like, how much goes into that is insane.
And so there’s an appreciation for the art of it. There’s an appreciation for the work that goes into it. And then, when you see somebody in the wild wearing your stuff, like, it’s just a visual for the amount of time, investment, and passion that people pour into this. So I’ve seen it, like you said, on my side with our brand, and now it reflects, I’m sure, to another level, what these designers that we’re repping with this partnership. So it’s just an overall appreciation, for sure, of how hard it is to do this.
