Knicks F Carmelo Anthony has “become the latest in a long line of fashionable New York athletes,” as he “favors custom-made suits, vintage jackets and high-end cargo pants, a look that has caught on among his peers in professional sports,” according to Mary Pilon of the N.Y. TIMES. Anthony on Sunday following the Knicks' loss to the Pacers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series “wore a burgundy blazer over a black T-shirt, along with a black fedora to the postgame news conference.” When designer Khalilah Williams-Webb met Anthony he had “cornrows and favored baggy clothes.” Now she has “helped turn him into the kind of person who attends fashion shows and offers style tips in the British edition of GQ.” Williams-Webb said, “The goal was to make him look more like a gentleman, to make him be more relatable, in a sense.” Pilon reports Williams-Webb every few weeks she “meticulously selects outfits for Anthony, down to his socks, underwear, belt and shoes.” She then “places each outfit into a garment bag, with instructions for Anthony pinned to the bag.” Her client list includes Raptors F Rudy Gay, Celtics F Brandon Bass and 49ers S Donte Whitner, among others. The “unintentional effect” of the NBA instituting its dress code in ’05 is that it has “turned the sidelines into a runway.” Williams-Webb said, “Basketball players are into it, athletes in general are into it. They’re into clothes, they’re into suiting” (N.Y. TIMES, 5/7).
