Intro (00:01):

Welcome to the Taylor 10. A fast-paced, 10 minute deep dive into the minds of those shaking up the marketing world, bringing you the sharpest insights, boldest ideas and breakthrough trends driving the industry forward. So tune in, get inspired, and stay ahead.

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Bri (00:18):

I'm Brie Cameron and welcome to the Taylor 10. I am here with Sean McRae, also known as SeanaVeli, a professional athlete stylist and image consultant to learn as much as I can about how style and fits enhances an athlete's marketability in only 10 minutes. Let's get into it. Sean, how are you doing?

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Sean (00:38):

I'm doing well. How are you doing?

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Bri (00:40):

Good. Let's start with your journey. Not everyone wakes up and decides that they want to style athletes. So walk us into your story. How did you get into styling athletes specifically? What drew you to that lane? Was there a specific athlete or a moment that made you realize the power of style? Talk to me about that.

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Sean (00:58):

I would say that originally when I was in college, I was in school to be an attorney so I was trying to be a sports agent or a sports attorney or whatever you like to call it. But essentially I realized that I was into more of the creative side of the business than more of the legal side. So I started designing clothes and then I realized that a lot of people don't really have a knack for necessarily putting things together. And I think that I had more of a knack for putting things together than actually creating things from scratch, like designing clothes. So I started getting into styling because I had several friends that were already styling different campaigns. I had a friend that was styling some campaigns at kif, another friend who was styling somebody on the Knicks. And essentially I thought that it would be a good fit for me based upon my skillset.

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(01:56):

So I started off by asking my friends, what do you think my best way is to become a stylist? And they were like, well, you should start working for free or working on your friend's brands or volunteering here, reaching out to so-and-so stylist to try to necessarily get your portfolio together. And then I had another friend, her name is Danny, and she essentially told me to always take my own pictures. So I got a film camera, and then I just started styling my friend's brands and some of my friends and taking all the pictures on film. And then I started from there. After I got out of college, I reached out to NBA player, Tyrese Haliburton. He allowed me an opportunity to necessarily work pro bono, style him for a little bit while he was doing his pre-draft process to the NBA. That went pretty well at first. So I decided, you know what? This seems like a good lane for me. And that's how I got started.

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Bri (02:59):

So we know ball is life, but the tunnel walk now is a runway. The tunnel walk is where the cameras need to be. That's what athletes and fans in general, that's where they're most excited to see their favorite player show up. Let's talk about impact. How do you think personal style contributes to an athlete's brand beyond the game?

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Sean (03:23):

It's kind of in a weird place right now because I think that through social media, the perspective has completely changed. I think that more people are actually concerned more with what an athlete wears to the game or what shoes they're wearing on court or their personal style outside of the arena, more so than their performance in the game. And I think that's kind of really transcended throughout all of social media and it's really taken off through different PR companies, different marketing companies, wanting to partner with athletes. And I think that personal style is necessarily extremely important. It's more than a self-expression now. It's just an opportunity where athletes are using it to not only express themselves but also bring in extra streams of revenue, income and stuff like that. So the way it's headed, I think it's going to be more headed into people caring more about people's outfits than anything else.

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Bri (04:22):

Or in what ways have you seen a good fit directly translate into more opportunities? Someone has a good fit and it's landed them an endorsement deal, it's landed them media attention. Have you seen that at all? And in what ways?

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Sean (04:35):

I feel like I see it all the time. Case in point, I know Tyrese, Haliburton, he does a spin on his name, so he got a direct sponsorship with Reese's Pieces. So then they did a ton of walks with Reese's Pieces. My client Isaiah tends to wear Timberlands a lot because he's a little bit more rug. He has a little bit more of a, how can I explain it a little bit more like a rough around edges style. So we kind of incorporate Timberlands a lot. So then Timberland reached out to us. So I think that now it's becoming synonymous for brands to try to make a seamless connection. They try to do something or they try to make a collaboration based upon what resonates specifically with the client and then try to use that as a marketing opportunity to do it throughout the tunnel.

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Bri (05:27):

You see these athletes? Yes, they have their fashion brand collaborations, different endorsements. Some of them have their own brands. Jalen Brown just came out with a collection. Kyrie Irving has his own brand. Can you break down how athletes become fashion symbols in their own right?

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Sean (05:49):

We're learning more and more about their own individuality and how they like to express themselves. And I think that it's great that brands like Anta and Jalen Brown, who, I forgot the name of his brand, but he's partnering with different companies like Timberland doing collaborations and stuff like that, and really building up their own brands versus partnering with these huge companies. And I think that that's really the wave between them. Stefan Digs kind of creating their own personal brands and just pushing out personal projects, I think is super dope.

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Bri (06:20):

How much input do they typically have versus you or other stylists leading the vision?

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Sean (06:27):

I think that's a great question. I think it's more on a, not subjective, but more of a case by case basis. I think it's really based upon the relationship, like you mentioned with the athlete necessarily. I have some athletes where they, or some clients rather, where they kind of give their 2 cents. They're pretty strong about it, and they want you to kind of not do personal shopping, but they give you a mold that they want to fill. They have inspirations, they send you different pictures or whatever the case may be, and they want you to fit into the mold. On the other hand, you have certain clients who will allow you to have complete free range because most of these athletes are from the middle of nowhere, the middle of Wisconsin, the middle of Arizona, where they're not really too deep into the fashion game. So they allow me to come in and necessarily give my own 2 cents on what's popping, what's in, or allow me to forecast on what's actually going to be popping in the future. So that way they could actually be ahead of the trend, ahead of the curve. And it feels more genuine when you have a genuine connection with a client and you build a personal relationship and they're able to give you their 2 cents, but you're also able to be like, nah, this is it. And let them know what really looks good.

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Bri (07:45):

How do you balance authenticity and trend?

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Sean (07:49):

I think sometimes it's all about having a real conversation with the client and really being like, Hey, look, we can do X and X, but if we're going to do it, we have to kind of tweak it and make it with our own flare, our own swag, our own unique personal touch to it to necessarily not look like everybody else, but kind of push the boundaries.

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Bri (08:11):

And where do you think the athlete fashion moment is heading next? We saw the Met Gala happen earlier this week. We have a lot of athletes who attended there, Hurts, Stefon Diggs was there. What do you see as the next thing or next stage of athletes in fashion?

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Sean (08:34):

I think eventually it's going to come down to the fact where these athletes are going to realize, hey, we're the ones people are watching for the games and the fits. And I think it's already heading in that direction. I think it's just going to be more of an uptrend of these athletes really just controlling fashion shows and the spaces they're invited to all of these parties. And I think that that's where it's going to keep heading on the uphill.

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Bri (09:00):

What makes a brand want to work with a stylish athlete?

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Sean (09:05):

A brand wants to work with a stylish athlete because they know they're trendsetting. They know that people are watching to see what this person is wearing, not on a week by week basis, but on a day-to-day basis. And that these people, these athletes have the most influence. They're going to be the ones that are being imitated on all these apps on Instagram and social media, and they know that these are the ones that these PR companies are checking for and putting them at the forefront of each and every event. So I think that they're the people that are the new walking billboards. You put something on these sets of athletes and next thing you know your brand or your drop or your clothes are selling out. It's super hard to get. And I think that's kind of why they're at the forefront.

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Bri (09:51):

Let folks know where you can follow your work. Stay tapped in

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Sean (09:55):

On Instagram, TikTok is @seanaveli and my website is seanaveli.com.

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Bri (10:02):

Thank you. Thank you.

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