Before it became trendy to support women’s basketball, fashion designer Esther Wallace was doing just that.
In 2018, she started her company Playa Society, a Black-owned sports apparel line aimed at celebrating women’s basketball at the professional and collegiate levels. Her brand has gone from selling shirts, hoodies and accessories to using fashion to tell the stories of women ballers from the past and present.
Wallace, who didn’t pick up basketball until she was a sophomore in high school, earned a Division I scholarship to play at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. She then played overseas while obtaining a Master’s Degree at Durham University in England. Her thesis was on the lack of women’s representation in sports advertising. Afterwards, Wallace wanted to do her part to bridge the gap, combining her studies with her passion for design.
Her first project was a t-shirt with the word “FEMALE” crossed out over the word “ATHLETE.” The message of women being seen as athletes first became an instant hit when it was released in 2017.
Since then, the company has exploded in popularity, just like the sport. Players…
