{"id":74485,"date":"2025-07-19T04:36:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T04:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/74485\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T04:36:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T04:36:13","slug":"wnba-signature-sneakers-shine-at-all-star-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/74485\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA signature sneakers shine at All-Star weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the past three years, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and A\u2019ja Wilson have all released signature shoes, with Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese in the works.<\/p>\n

INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 Signature shoes are ready for their share of the Indianapolis spotlight at All-Star weekend.<\/p>\n

Bright orange All-Star editions of Sabrina Ionescu\u2019s and A\u2019ja Wilson\u2019s newest sneakers dropped into their eager fans\u2019 hands Friday, joining the now legions of WNBA signature shoes on courts across the league.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the latest installation in a busy boom for WNBA signature sneakers.<\/p>\n

In the past three years, Breanna Stewart, Ionescu, and Wilson have all released signature shoes, with Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese signatures in the works.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew there would be an adoption, but we didn\u2019t know it would be that fast and that grand,\u201d Ben Nethongkome, the lead designer for Ionescu\u2019s shoe with Nike, said of the growth of her line.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been highly rewarding to see Nike really addressing the ask and need from that side of the game,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s great to hear the (male signature athletes) giving flowers, like, \u2018Wow, women\u2019s basketball is really growing in a beautiful way.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

StockX, a prominent force in the sneaker resale ecosystem, has been feeling the surge within sneakerhead culture. Sales of WNBA signature sneakers on their site jumped 938% from 2023 to 2024, and they are on pace to see year-over-year sales of them increase by double digits again this year. Brendan Dunne, senior director of customer community and engagement at StockX, called it \u201can explosion of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t mistake it as a new phenomenon. Call it a comeback. From 1995 to 2010, nine WNBA signature sneakers hit the shelves, led by original stars Sheryl Swoopes and Lisa Leslie. In the next 12 years, there was only one, from Elena Delle Donne.<\/p>\n

New York Liberty stars All-Stars Stewart and Ionescu were the first two active WNBA players to sign their new deals, with Puma and Nike, respectively, to end the drought and usher in this new era.<\/p>\n

The most recent Sabrinas and A’Ones, both with Nike, retail at $135 and $115, respectively. The most recent Stewies with Puma retail at $120.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was able to get mine, I understood the gravity of knowing it\u2019s going to be a successful business, and showing the world that women deserve to be at the table talking about the signature shoe business,\u201d Ionescu said. \u201cThey really can change the landscape of the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson’s first model was released in May.<\/p>\n


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\u201cIt\u2019s been a dream come true,\u201d the WNBA MVP said. \u201cTo see everybody in the community wear it, it warms my heart and it never gets old. I\u2019m like, you really took the time to support me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Angel Reese 1s are the next drop on the signature shoe calendar, and the shoe’s image and \u201cDiamond Dust\u201d colorway were revealed to the public earlier this month. The shoe will be officially launching in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy for that,\u201d said basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O\u2019Neal, who has been a mentor for Reese. \u201cShe\u2019s having fun. She represents our family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c(The WNBA) is big, but it needs to become bigger,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nethongkome said that in comparison to the design style in the 1990s, which was more \u201cbold and kind of in your face,\u201d many sneakers in their new lines feature more hidden nods, like the slight vertical tip of the Nike logo on Ionescu\u2019s shoe to represent the breaking of a glass ceiling or the lowercase \u2018i\u2019 on the heel.<\/p>\n

Those small design choices are representative of a larger trend in today\u2019s new signatures. Personal details and storylines are becoming more prevalent, making each shoe especially distinctive to its athlete.<\/p>\n

Ionescu\u2019s sneakers feature gradient embroidery that pay homage to her Romanian roots, and Wilson\u2019s original A\u2019One colorway was pearlescent, as a nod to a pearl necklace her late grandmother gave her. A favorite saying from her grandmother is featured on the outsole: \u201cAs a matter of fact, the best is yet to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Associated Press\u2019 women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s\u00a0standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at\u00a0AP.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the past three years, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and A\u2019ja Wilson have all released signature shoes, with…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":74486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[62,67,132,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-74485","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us","12":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114878046815271232","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}