7 feet and 4 inches tall.
Most people would believe that being of that stature would be more of a hassle than a fashionable attribute. With Stan Chalbo as the young basketball mogul’s stylist, Victor Wembanyama has managed to emerge as the new standard of what “fashionable class” looks like for Gen Z.
The 24-year-old, born in Le Chesnay, France, Wembanyama (also known as Wemby) was drafted in the 2023 NBA Draft, wearing what would make him stand out from the rest of his class. With a very thick French accent, he answered questions in a double breasted, deep emerald, finely tailored suit.
In my opinion, his 2023 draft outfit should be on every male high school senior’s mood board for prom, strictly because of one detail: the pants go past his ankles. I think the worst trend we will look back on in men’s fashion is the suit pants that stop right above the ankle. If there’s a man walking around who is 7’4’’ and even he can get a tailored suit past his ankles, so should you, male high school senior (who I doubt is reading this).
Within the last three years, Wemby has not only grown to be one of the best players in the NBA, but one of the most socially conscious, too. Wemby has a keen awareness of how he influences the youth, which has made his partnership decisions very selective. He declines major soda brand deals because he doesn’t want to “kill the kids.” His blatant disdain for certain drinks was there even before he got to the height of his career he’s at now. He’s been known to toss Gatorade bottles that sit in front of him when doing interviews, exclaiming “Oh, hell no! Who put that there?”
Wemby’s pickiness with brands reflects well on those he does partner with, like Louis Vuitton, his main fashion house endorsement. Pictured at Paris Fashion Week SS25, wearing a casual, finely tailored grey set, he meets the sports media, interviewers confident in his stature. To finalize the look, the Vuitton Speedy in a bright teal brings a bold pop of color to the rather mellow shade of what he is wearing. Though the set is muted in color, the detail of the color of the buttons also matching the teal color of his bag heightens (no pun intended) the look to be more fun.
As the season got more serious, entering the Western conference finals against the former NBA champions—the Oklahoma City Thunder—is a runway feat for most players, if they even manage to get to that stage in their career. Victor Wembanyama is considered quite young for how his career has played out so far. Leading a very young team (the Spurs’ very promising shooting guard, Dylan Harper, being only 20 in the finals) to the Western Conference Finals and then to the NBA Finals changed the trajectory and exposure of himself and everyone around him.
Walking out in a relaxed suit custom designed by NAHMIAS, he wears vertical stripes to compliment his height. The “Alien” (his beloved nickname, not something cynical I made up) doesn’t exchange any words with the press and media waiting for him in the tunnel of the Paycom Center. He simply lets his fashion statement be what he has to say for the night.
The grey suit truly showcases his focus and concentration going into one of the most important games of his NBA career. Where the dress shirt stops and pants meet is illegible, making this outfit more visually pleasing, with no room for potential error. The dapper and perfected details make sure there’s no room for insecurity when walking in front of hundreds of cameras before you even step on to the court. I can only imagine it could alleviate one worry before heading out into 80,000 screaming fans who are rooting against you.
Victor Wembanyama has only been putting others to shame in terms of tunnel fits for a short amount of time now and probably will be for the rest of his career. As an avid Knicks fan, I can truly recognize when the opponent is great, on and off the court.