Bristol Studio Is Capturing NBA Talent With Its Authentic Basketball Aesthetic
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By Cassell Ferere originally published on Forbes.com
Bristol Studio is the fashion brand that has organically captured NBA and WNBA athletes’ attention with its hoops aesthetic and organic translation of the queues of basketball rather than an explicit iteration. Since launching almost a decade ago, Bristol Studio and its co-founders Luke Tadashi and Maasai Ephriam have made performance and athleticism as baseline elements of the brand.
What gets the appeal and the likes of NBA athletes like Kyle Kuzma, Carmelo Anthony, Seth Curry, and Lebron James, or WNBA stars like Kelsey Plum and Jewell Loyd, is the spirit, culture, and artistry of the sport. The LA-based garment studio and basketball-lifestyle brand has attracted basketball enthusiasts with its clean and sleek design that echos the sport in design.
Items like the Triple Hem Short have a layering effect seen on streetball courts, the reversible sweat suits resembling the look of an inside-out sweatshirt and sweatpants, and the Warm-Up Pant with bound marker design like the lines that encase basketball courts everywhere. Inspiration from basketball is seen throughout the collection and in every drop.
Tadashi describes the garments as he relates them to the nuances of the sport, “so many garments we wore as kids were reversible: practice jerseys, shorts. It was such a part of basketball culture. I knew I wanted to apply that same functionality to garments that had never been reversible in the past.”
“The Sweatsuit was the perfect starting place because we actually flipped it inside out as kids.” Tadashi reminisces. “We would wear it with the terry loops showing on the outside. There was no functionality, though it wasn’t meant to be worn that way. So I decided to elevate that idea and make it intentional.”
The basketball community is dear to co-founders Tadashi and Ephriam, who both came up through AAU [Amateur Athletic Union] organizations, collegiate basketball programs, and stints overseas playing in professional basketball leagues. The community extends to local runs in their hometown base of Los Angeles and at events like Art Basel Miami Beach.
“I’m drawn to materials that fit a concept. So for the Coaches Trousers and Jacket, I knew I wanted the garments to speak to the game,” said creative director Tadashi. “So when I came across this fabric that texturally represented the hardwood, I knew that had to be it.”
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