It’s been a season of firsts for Victor Wembanyama. The 7’4” Spurs rookie is midway through his first NBA season, after being selected first overall in the 2023 NBA Draft. He’s fresh off his first All-Star Weekend, where played in the Rising Stars Challenge—and kept plenty busy off the court, too. Now, another first: today, the 20 year old joins Louis Vuitton as the French luxury brand’s newest ambassador. “To me, it’s the best,” Wembanyama tells GQ in an exclusive interview. “It’s the best partner I can think of.”
The two sides began talking last year, when Wemby, playing for the Paris-based team Metropolitans 92, was generating unheard-of buzz in NBA circles as the greatest prospect since LeBron. “I wanted a meaningful partnership,” he explains. “To me it made a lot of sense to partner with LV—you know, French excellence. The expertise is something that I feel very much attracted to.”
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton
So, when it came time for the NBA Draft, Victor Wembanyama enlisted Vuitton for the crucial task of making his suit. Draft suits have a long and storied history in the league—most often for the way they serve as time capsules of particularly tragic eras in NBA style. And Wemby, it turns out, did his research. “Over the years there’s been plenty of different styles and some that are really, really outdated now in the league,” he says. “I mean, I remember LeBron’s draft suit was so baggy. It was cool back then, but now it is just funny.” But Victor, I ask—were you even born when LeBron was drafted? “It was one year before I was born,” he admitted.
The draft suit was a success: Wemby received plaudits for his deep-green double-breasted fit. More importantly, it passed the Wemby test. “I think it was well worth it, because it’s definitely the best suit of this year’s draft, and also the past years, in my opinion,” he says. “It was just beautiful. And now it’s all coming together.”
So far in his rookie season, Wembanyama has stuck mostly to sweatsuits—most of which show a few inches of ankle. That’s because it’s hard to dress off the rack when you’re 7’4” and 210lbs. “I’m tall, but I’m also pretty thin, so it’s always been hard to find clothes that fit,” he notes. Now, though, fans “can expect me to wear nice and beautiful clothes, which has been, before in my life, a struggle—but is now possible with LV.” Canny observers might have noticed a few more LV fits making their way into Wemby’s pregame rotation—expect more of that soon.
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