A’ja Wilson
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You know you’ve got a successful commercial on your hands when people are making whole TikTok videos about how great it is (not to mention the New York Times calling it “the best TV commercial of the year”). The campaign for A’ja Wilson’s A’One signature shoe from Nike, which launched last May, went viral for how authentically and unapologetically it centred the WNBA player’s Black identity. Featuring young girls in braids clapping to a ‘Miss Mary Mack’ rhyme about Wilson; cheerleaders from Benedict College, a historically Black college where her father played basketball, and a scene where a young Wilson gets shushed by her grandmother, filmed in the Church where she grew up, the campaign celebrated Black community, culture and joy.
“I think people resonated with it because it was real,” Wilson tells Dazed. “And I think we also woke Nike back up. Nike was kind of in a space of going with the flow, doing what they think was best, but sometimes you got to think outside the box. I’m someone that is going to push everyone out the box, because I feel like that’s how you get greatness. It was so much fun making it, so to see the reaction, and people seeing the fun in it, that’s what made it all worthwhile.”
The shoe was a big a hit as the campaign and sold out almost immediately. Now, the seven-time All-Star, four-time MVP and three-time WNBA Champion is back with her second signature shoe, the A’Two. Building on the silhouette of its predecessor, the new sneaker comes with upgraded features while retaining the essential elements – Wilson’s favourite colour pink, for example. An expanded clothing collection accompanies the shoes and includes hoodies with satin-lined hoods to protect Black hair, reversible options of Wilson’s trademark asymmetrical leggings and larger options for men, so that everyone would feel included.
Dazed spoke to Wilson about the rise of women’s sports, the questions female athletes get asked and why she wants to win absolutely everything.
Congratulations on the second shoe! The reaction to the first one was amazing. How was that to experience?
A’ja Wilson: It was a lot of fun. Honestly, it was something that you could really never put into words, because it’s just so meaningful to you, it’s so surreal. But I had tons of fun seeing my first creation be a success. You just want your second one to be the same, if not better, and I think we crushed it.
The campaign for the first shoe went viral, and people really resonated with the joy, the authenticity. You played a big part in the creative direction – do you think that success is what happens with women, and especially Black women, are part of the process from the beginning and not just fronting the campaign?
A’ja Wilson: Absolutely yes. I feel like that is something I always want to stay with me, being surrounded by women who look like me. Because we know each other’s ups and downs and in-betweens better than anyone else, and we also know how hard it is for us to stand there and own rooms. So being able to have them be a part of my process was also very key.
What’s the messaging around the second shoe?
A’ja Wilson: Now we’re saying, it’s for everybody. Like you said, we really honed in on young women, young Black women, when it came to the One because I was like ‘this is something for us, we need something for us’ –
Finally!
A’ja Wilson: Right! We don’t need to be the afterthought, we need to be the first thought.
It had been so long since Sheryl Swoopes had her shoe [Wilson is the first Black WNBA athlete with a Nike signature shoe since Swoopes in 1995].
A’ja Wilson: It’s been a minute since a Black woman has had a shoe. So it’s like, if we’re gonna do it, do it! That’s how I wanted to enter the room and start the conversation. When it comes to the Two, we haven’t lost that but now we’re like, okay everyone else can join, now it’s everyone else’s turn. But I love it. I feel like we really nailed it on the head of making it a shoe for everybody.
Seeing men and boys in female athletes’ jerseys or in their merch feels like such a step forward, because they’re going to grow up just thinking it’s normal to watch and support female athletes.
A’ja Wilson: Yeah, it’s a breath of fresh air. It really is. The shift in the boom of our sport, it’s been so cool to see men get on board. I mean, last year we had men wearing pink shoes. It’s been huge, the support that we’ve had, and now we give them some love in the A’Two.
Is fashion a big part of your life?
A’ja Wilson: I think it’s becoming more so now. Obviously in our league, we have taken tunnel walks to a whole ‘nother level. I remember a time when that didn’t matter. The last thing you needed to worry about was what you look like coming to a game. But now we’re using it as a way of showing our personalities, showing us more as the phenomenal women that we are. And I think that’s pretty cool. What I’ve grown to like more about fashion is being able to speak through clothing. But for me, the biggest thing is just trying to be comfortable and not only in the clothes, but in my own skin.
You’re doing a European tour at the moment. What kinds of conversations are you having with the young people you’re meeting? Is it different from in the US?
A’ja Wilson: I was just in the Netherlands and it’s a smaller space. In America, we have this big platform where we’re able to showcase our talents, so I think the biggest difference is just the visibility of it. But like I told a young girl yesterday, if you continue to work on your craft and you’re good at what you do, people are going to find greatness. Don’t let your mind shrink because you think ‘no one will ever find me in the Netherlands or find me in London’. No, you will get found. Just continue to be great.
Especially now, when we’re seeing such a rise of women’s sports. How has it been to be a part of that?
A’ja Wilson: It’s been incredible. I’m so grateful to be a part of a generation that got to see both sides of it. I got to see, not the beginning-beginning, but the middle, where we were trying to figure it out but we just don’t know how to get over the hump. And now being on the other side of the hump and everything that comes with that. And through it all, not switching up when the boom came and never losing sight of where we’ve come from, but where we need to go as well. So it’s been a blessing witnessing it because it was just a matter of time that people really caught on to what we do as women in sport.
Definitely. Has it felt kind of like riding a wave?
A’ja Wilson: Yes, but the only thing about a wave is that it comes down [laughs]. I don’t want this one to ever go down! I want to sustain its boom, and I want people to continue to invest in us and love on us and respect us. It doesn’t matter what it takes, we have to continue to push so people understand what we stand for.
What do you think still needs to be done in women’s sports to keep it growing and also to get the respect that it deserves?
A’ja Wilson: We would be here all day. But to sum it up, I would say just the storytelling and the visibility. What’s so huge in our game is letting people know that we’re more than just athletes, and figuring out how we can tell the real stories of phenomenal women. Sometimes when we’re in media, we have to not always be ourselves, because you want to be politically correct and make sure that you put your best foot forward, and that’s great.
But sometimes we have to let people in through our lens, and let them know what we go through, how we have to show up every single day as the best. People can relate to that on all different levels, from all different paths of life, and that’s how you continue to get the respect and the growth.
As the sport has grown and female athletes have a bigger profile with the public, has that increased attention been hard to deal with?
A’ja Wilson: Yeah, it is because everyone expects you to be who they want you to be, versus accepting you for who you are and loving you through that. That’s probably the hardest part. But other than that, I really don’t care about the next person or what they have to say about me [laughs]. I’m always gonna show up as my true self, take it or leave it. What helps me navigate being in the public eye and being a public figure, however you want to say it, is the people around me. I’m surrounded by people that really love me for who I am and make me secure in who I am.
I do get times when I’m just like, I wish I could just not do anything and just sleep [laughs]. But at the same time, I love opening myself up to everyone in different cultures and different communities, and relating to them through the game.
How has it felt being a role model to so many young female athletes and what kind of advice do you give them?
A’ja Wilson: It’s crazy to think of myself as a role model because I still see myself as just someone that’s figuring out life at the age of 29. I happen to be pretty good at basketball so things get amplified in a different way. But it’s been super cool to see young girls, and young boys as well, wanting to be the best, seeing my story and being like, ‘yes, I want to be like that’.
I think probably the biggest advice that I give them is to give themselves some grace. Sometimes this world can be really hard on all of us, but don’t be too hard on yourself. The world does that for you, the least you can do is be confident and be true to yourself and live through that, because no one else will. We only get one life so we have to really make sure that we’re living to the fullest on our terms.
Who are some female athletes that you’re inspired by?
A’ja Wilson: I would have to say Candace Parker was a huge one, because she was someone that looked like me that carried herself so well on and off the court. Serena Williams is going to always be one, because she’s just a complete badass in everything that she does. Who else… oh, I just met Eileen Gu.
She’s a badass. She’s won everything.
A’ja Wilson: I mean, a complete badass. And I also love the fact that she doesn’t shy away from popping her shit – excuse me for cussing. I told her ‘when you ate them reporters up that was huge’, because we’re so used to having to be like, ‘Oh haha’ [in response to disrespectful media questions]. But no, she was like, ‘no pause, let me tell you who I really am’. And I think that is so big, and I think we need more of that.
I don’t think that’s a question [she was asked, about her recent performances, “Do you see these as two silvers gained or two golds lost?”] that would ever have been put to a male athlete.
A’ja Wilson: Listen, it’s always mindblowing the questions that we get asked sometimes. And it’s like, you guys would never ask that if I was a man. But hey, now you gotta get this answer.
You’ve won so much already. You’ve achieved so much already. [Last year, Wilson became the first player in the WNBA or NBA to win a championship, league MVP, finals MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and a league scoring title in the same season.] What are some things that you still win or aspire to?
A’ja Wilson: Some things I still want to win? Everything [laughs].
Is there anything left that you haven’t won? [Laughs]
A’ja Wilson: Everything, honestly, I’m going to continue to be greedy. If it’s there, why not take it? Why not keep it? Why not grab it and snatch it! [laughs] That is my thing. My mindset is always: I’m going to do it until I can’t do it anymore. I want to win at everything. I want to make it extremely hard for people to catch up. I want to make a ceiling so high that people always want to reach it, and my name is constantly in conversations. I want to continue to work hard at it and also bring everyone up along with me. This isn’t just a solo trip. I really want to help others while I’m doing it. That’s so big for me. I don’t want it just to be about me. I got to do that with my squad, my team, my people around me. That’s how I’m going to continue to win.
I love that idea of being a role model, not just through supporting and giving back to the community, but by being so excellent that it gives the next generations something to aspire to, and then that brings everyone up as well.
A’ja Wilson: I love winning. I don’t want to say I get high off it but it’s like a feeling that I never want to come down from. I never want to not feel this feeling – so what do I have to do? Yes, I’ve lost. I’ve lost plenty of times. But once you get into that mode of ‘oh, this is what it feels like’, I never want to go down from that. So I’m going to continue to help us win, and at the same time, I’m going to also hold everyone accountable. We’re all going to be winners; this is what we have to do in order to be that. And if you’re not ready for that, I’m sorry but you have to go. My team, they really understand that, in our locker room everyone’s always on the same page. We want to win it.