WNBA star DiDi Richards makes her fashion week debut with Dur Doux

NEW YORK — Game 2 of the WNBA Finals series takes place on Tuesday, with the Las Vegas Aces battling the Connecticut Sun for the coveted championship title. As the door closes on another season, players displaying pregame passes in their WNBA tunnel entrances will be over. However, the perennial discussion of the failure of fashion exploiting the style of female athletes continues.

For this New York Fashion Week, which runs until Wednesday, mother-daughter label Dur Doux tried to change that. Designers Cynthia and Najla Burt facilitated a unique partnership with the league for their Spring-Summer 2023 collection titled Paradis Palmiers. After making her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit debut in MayWNBA star DiDi Richards walked the Dur Doux show on Monday, supported by New York Liberty teammate Michaela Onyenwere and Los Angeles Sparks guard Lexie Brown in the front row.

Created in 2012 while Najla Burt was attending Parsons School of Design, Dur Doux marries bold avant-garde fashion with elegant, luxurious sensibilities. The brand, whose name means “hard soft” in French, combines durability and whimsy through its designs.

Dur Doux made its breakout appearance last year at New York Fashion Week’s spring-summer 2022 season. In February this year, the brand’s autumn-winter 2022 collection was presented in the Black in Fashion Council showrooms. According to Najla Burt, that’s when Dur Doux’s relationship with the WNBA started.

“The WNBA reached out and said, ‘We love your brand. We’ve read about your story and we’d love to participate,’” she said.

“Initially it was just to have two stars sit in the show. So this season we said, ‘How would you all feel about having one of the players go on the show?’”

Fan favorite Richards was one of the first names that came to mind for Burt and her mother. In the New York Liberty guard’s NYFW debut, she strutted down the runway in a vibrant tangerine orange maxi dress with a daring slit down the side paired with gold bracelets and scallop hoop earrings. For Burts, color is an integral part of their label.

“Part of our brand DNA is being from Florida, being in the beautiful, tropical Caribbean environment,” the younger Burt said. “[This season’s collection] was inspired by the Florida palm, the emblem of the state. I just remember growing up and seeing that palm tree everywhere we went.”

Oscillating between earthy, earthy neutrals and vibrant tones, Dur Doux’s 30-look collection consisted of sensual silhouettes, free-flowing skirts, dresses, tunics and feather hems. Paying homage to Burt’s Tallahassee upbringing, Dur Doux aimed to encapsulate a holiday spirit with Paradis Palmiers.

Burt, whose sister played basketball growing up and father earned a collegiate athletic scholarship, said she and her mother were excited to work with Richards and hope this is the beginning of a long-lasting relationship with the WNBA.

From struggling to find pants for tall girls at the mall to becoming one of the league’s style icons, Richards said walking in New York Fashion Week has been a dream come true. Some of her style inspirations are singer Rihanna, entertainer Teyana Taylor and other women who “push the issue”. The 23-year-old WNBA star wants this moment to be a catalyst for more designers to bolster the league’s fashion capabilities.

“It’s definitely a missed opportunity for a lot of people who don’t take advantage of the WNBA. We’re all kinds of fashionistas, whether it’s wearing sweaters or we’re the girly girls who like to wear dresses and skirts,” said Richards . “It’s exciting to see the different ways that ‘The W’ amplifies fashion, but I’m proud that I’m able to be that person for little girls like me.”

She continued: “I went through this phase where I only wore sweats. My style is baggy bottoms, tight tops and I think what made me that way is because nothing would fit me tight. If it fit for my length, it wouldn’t fit my width. If it fit my width, it wouldn’t fit my length. Now I think it’s much, much better—or I’ve just found the right places.”

These days, Richards frequents clothing stores like PrettyLittleThing for her expansive high-end line, as well as Nasty Gal and others. When she found out she wanted to walk the show, she dove head first into researching what modeling entails and New York Fashion Week in general. When her friends Onyenwere and Brown heard the news, it made perfect sense to them why Richards was picked for the opportunity.

“It wasn’t a shock because if you know DiDi, it’s something she wants to do. She was a Sports Illustrated model a few months ago. This is in her realm and I’m really proud of her. Now where I have seen exactly what [Dur Doux is] able to produce, this is exactly where she needs to be,” said Onyenwere.

And Richards isn’t the only WNBA star to make a professional foray into fashion. On the same night as the Dur Doux show, the Dallas Wings attack Isabelle Harrison went for Kim Shui. South Carolina Gamecocks alum Destanni Henderson has also made waves with her WNBA draft uniform and label Clothing by HP.

Brown said it’s time for brands to invest in the WNBA’s untapped potential, from fashion to beauty and lifestyle.

“There are a lot of women in this league who just look really put together all the time, whether they have a shaved head, dreads, braids, weaves, wigs,” Brown said.

“We have everything in the league and we all manage to keep it looking really good while training every day. I’m thinking, why isn’t it being used? People play with full faces of makeup. We have lashes, girls get their hair done and we don’t look crazy on the field.”

Along with Brown and Onyenwere, Richards said she hopes the WNBA continues to grow in the right direction and brands can bridge the gap between fashion and the league as a whole. Collaborations like this can be the first step.