The Glossy 50 honors the year’s biggest changemakers across fashion and beauty. More from the series →
Women’s sports, beauty and fashion have never been more intertwined — and, from its home at the Barclays Center, the New York Liberty is at the forefront of all of it. When the team moved from Westchester to Brooklyn in 2020, Shana Stephenson, its chief brand officer, wanted to shake things up.
“I thought, ‘How do we want to show up in New York?’ And, ‘How do we want to show up and represent for women’s sports?’ ‘What is our identity?'” Stephenson told Glossy. “Knowing that Brooklyn would be our home really charged me up.”
This year, the Liberty took home its first championship. And, according to ESPN, the 2024 WNBA Finals was the most-viewed in 25 years, with viewership up 115% from 2023.
Over the course of the season, endless ink was spilled about the Liberty’s success; the energy inside the arena during games; the team’s extremely fashionable mascot, Ellie the Elephant (she has her own stylist) and the brand’s many partnerships.
In her role, Stephenson decides which partners make sense for the team. In doing so, she is guided by what she calls her “3 Cs”: culture, court and community. And partnering with brands that share values with the team is crucial, she said. On the fashion side, that has included women’s workwear brand MM LaFleur and luxury fashion brand Off-White. MM LaFleur entered a multiyear partnership with the New York Liberty in July of 2023. Through the partnership, the brand has created dedicated capsule collections as well as outfitted the Liberty’s head coach, Sandy Brondello. “[It’s a] woman-founded business, and supporting women entrepreneurs is at the core of who we are,” Stephenson said. “It was a natural fit.”
Meanwhile, Off-White became the “Official Style and Culture Curator” for the team in September. To introduce the partnership, the team wore custom coordinating Off-White varsity jackets. Off-White and the team are now in talks about developing a capsule collection. According to Stephenson, Off-White and the Liberty are aligned on values. “They do a lot around diversity and inclusion, and bring an awareness to a lot of those causes in a way that we do — whether it’s showing up for Black people, queer people or women,” she said.
“We’re at a point in time where these brands see women’s sports, [including] the WNBA, as a viable investment and see our fan base as viable consumers for their businesses,” Stephenson said.
As for the fans? “They understand the business of the WNBA,” Stephenson said. “Lack of pay equity has been such a public topic, and they recognize [that these partnerships] generate revenue for the team.”
