On Tuesday night, Caitlin Clark rolled up to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut for her first official WNBA game. The NCAA’s all-time leading scorer was the very picture of style and poise—cutting the effortlessly dominant figure you’d expect of the year’s first-overall draft pick and the presumed future face of the league. The secret to her strong first impression? Her shoes: In the tunnel, Clark sported a crisp pair of Nike x Tiffany & Co. Air Force 1 1837s. It was a savvy choice from an athlete who just reportedly signed a landmark eight-year endorsement deal with Nike, signaling that she knows her kicks and was showing up ready for a fight.
The Tiffany Air Force 1s, released last March to massive hype, are splashy sneakerhead grails with high-luxury bona fides. That makes them the ideal shoes to bust out in the WNBA tunnel, where showing off your style has become nothing less than a requisite art. The sneakers—which retailed for $400 and now fetch six figures on the resale markets—are the rare statement piece that reflects well on the wearer’s status and taste. They’re a strong reminder, in other words, that Clark is a genuine superstar.
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But these are no ordinary luxury sneakers, either: They’re still black Air Force 1s, and regardless of the Tiffany-blue accents, that sends its own kind of message. Black AF1s have a long and storied history as the get-it-done, take-no-shit shoes, worn by those ready to get right down to business. There’s even precedent for the colorway in recent WNBA history: Las Vegas Aces star A’Ja Wilson wore a pair before Game 4 of the Finals last season—and then made good on the threat they so forcefully implied. Wilson wielded her black AF1s as an intentional intimidation tactic. Clark may have had something similar in mind—just with an elevated, Tiffany-branded twist to it.
Clark ultimately struggled a bit in her WNBA debut, posting 20 points and 10 turnovers as her Indiana Fever fell to the Connecticut Sun. But while attempting to acclimate herself to the pace of the league, she still managed to prove her mental toughness, hanging in as the opposing team threw everything and more at her in a rough welcome to the W. Her Tiffany Air Force 1s, then, may still have paid off: While Caitlin Clark still has a ways to go in proving herself at the pro level, she made it clear that she’s ready to bring a fight to the game that her shoes clearly promised.
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