Draft Day Fits!

Is your draft day fit ready?

For many athletes, being drafted is one of the most important days of their lives and it's also an opportunity to dress to impress and introduce themselves to the world with this first impression. Introducing their style, personality, charisma, and ultimately who/what their personal brand is. All of these can be expressed through their draft day suit/fashion.

Unfortunately not being a professional athlete with their own player branding, I had to settle for my wedding day suit which was the draft day of my life. I've gotten a lot of questions about my wedding suit from a year ago. When I first got engaged, my wife would joke about getting a Bruce Buffer style jacket and every UFC we would analyze his unique jackets saying how fancy they were, and ask "What about this one?"

With that in mind, I started to research who produces Buffer's jackets and came across My King and Bay which is located in Toronto. This was a sign from heaven and knew I at least needed to meet with them to discuss my suit. I set up an appointment and met with Aashif Jamani who not only helped me choose the best fabric and print for the jacket but also all of the additional stylings as well as narrowed down what would look best for my groomsmen as well. It was such a great experience working with him on that. His expertise and knowledge helped guide but also created this great rapport and connection, which is one of the main reasons he’s Buffer’s guy.

Being a designer I wanted to push and do as much customization as possible. I came up with a concept that reflected what was a key franchise of my life as a kid and even now as an adult. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was one of the first memories I have as a kid growing up, watching all the iterations of the Turtles and it's probably why I love martial arts and pizza so much. From my love of comics and graphics overall, I felt that having this tear concept could capture all the iterations of the turtles as well as seamlessly blend and add a lot more dimension to the suit lining. This is a 1 of 1 unique piece and I'm happy to be involved in designing the overall concept, look, and layout of the panels making this even more special to me.

After creating this I realized the potential for not only men customizing these suits and linings for their wedding day, but also sports professionals and prospects. One day where athletes show out is Draft Night. Probably one of the most important days of their life and its treated as such also like the sports world MetGala. There’s endless potential for athletes to showcase themselves as well as their brand and personality through their suits. Gradey Dick is a prime example from the 2023 Draft with his Red Kansas suit to call to his hometown through a Wizard of Oz reference. Most recently with the NFL 2024 Draft we had NCAA college football breakout stars like Malik Nabers who’s personalities shown through with their custom fits.

Just imagine all the possibilities there could be for future stars and athletes who already have brands to express themselves through these custom linings and fabrics especially in this new era of Name, Image and Likeness landscape for athletes. Draft day means so much to athletes from all walks of life and all sports genres and wearing a custom fit is a celebration of that new professional chapter for these individuals.

When you look good, you feel good and I felt like the best version of myself with this suit on, like Batman wearing his suit of armor. It made me think about what else is possible for custom linings and if this should be something I can help potential clients with. If it's for their special day, draft day, or even just their everyday wear. This is something that I designed that will stay with me forever and I'm very proud of it as nerdy as it is. Cowabunga 🤙

______________________________

Jason Jay
Founder & Creative Director | CONTENDER Studio
www.contender.studio
info@contender.studio