“ALMANSOR TO SOUTH COURTS”
COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT, STYLING, PRESS RELEASE
In a time that encourages self-searching and soulful discovery, Steele + Edith explores the lived reality of two first-generation Asian Americans. For their 2022 collection, Los Angeles-based partners Brian Tu and Wesley Tsai turned back the clock and tapped into their first love, basketball.
Emerging from isolation into a post-pandemic world, Tu and Tsai rediscovered the passion they held for the sport that had guided them since childhood. What seemed like an unrealistic dream at the time—becoming the next Asian American NBA player—pushed the pair of them to fervently pursue the game, hopping public school fences all over Los Angeles. Today, reminiscing on their passion calls to mind the role models they had growing up: Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Brandon Roy, Michael Jordan, and Dennis Rodman, among many others. In developing the latest collection, the two combined the aesthetics of the game, along with the emotional connection elicited by the sights and sounds, the movement and energy. The seamless fusion of basketball and fashion embodies what Steele + Edith aims to achieve through their storytelling: a timeless sense of youth, exploration, representation, and homage.
Chasing that feeling, Tu and Tsai dug through piles of old posters, magazines, and even clothes that they would wear when playing basketball as children. Memories of binge-watching highlight reels and commercials were pulled to the front of their minds and sublimated into design details. Basketball nets are digitally manipulated and rotary printed onto garments, emulating the NBA practice of wearing a fresh-cut set of nets after winning a championship game. Faux fur jackets can be seen layered atop sleek formalwear and sportier attire alike, mimicking the accessorizing of both Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson as they prepared for Game 7. Experiences of high school basketball played on gym hardwood and blacktop manifest as checkered home and away tracksuits and a basketball rib-adorn sashiko set. The brand’s signature fish scale motif is revisited and spread across fluid acetate shirts, wool trousers, down-filled ski pants, and a glossy velvet suit.
For their junior year, Steele + Edith presents a collection that is equal parts love for the game and love for their inner child. It is as much a fashion presentation as it is a reminder to be forever playful.
