Russell Westbrook, newly minted 2017 NBA Style Award winner, has bestowed upon us an entirely new way to show off your hard-earned summer muscles—and you can do it wearing multiple layers. Step one: Bring clothes to the brink of disintegration. Step two: Wear them with sunglasses.
The Thunder point guard wore this revealing look to Sports Illustrated’s Fashionable 50 party last night after earning the #1 spot on the list and being dubbed “fashion king”. His "Fight Racism” T-shirt was particularly cool for having a pointed political message—something the fashion industry has been keen on lately—while also allowing Westbrook to flash his ab muscles in a red-carpet setting. Those things don’t often come together in such a stylish way.
We know Westbrook’s graffiti-adorned denim jacket was by Resurrect by Night, a New York label that makes artfully trashed basics also adorned with social and political statements. Westbrook’s particular jacket said “Live" and “Why not?”, the latter of which is a reference to his charitable foundation, which gives resources and mentoring to underprivileged children. Last night on the red carpet Westbrook expanded on his "Why not?" philosophy telling SI that the highest style compliment is “when somebody tells me ‘I appreciate you being yourself’” going on to explain that if “somebody is able to express themselves and be themselves and not be scared to wear anything”, that’s really the most important thing.
And this is why Russell Westbrook is a modern-day style legend. He recognizes that clothing is powerful, and he doesn’t back down from it. Instead, he gets all kind of poetic and weird—and even a little scantily clad or political if the moment calls for it. It's wonderful.