Kimberly Chandler knows a thing or two about being a basketball wife.
No, her lifestyle doesn’t feature catty altercations, drama-filled lunches and shoe-hurling friends as demonstrated on the popular VH1 show.
For Kimberly, being a basketball wife to Knicks hubby Tyson Chandler means being a loving partner, a protective mother and the family’s number one supporter. Being fashionable while doing all of the aforementioned is just a mere plus!
STORY: Tyson Chandler: Baller, Gentleman, Artist? All Of The Above!
We caught up with Kim while she was on hand to celebrate her husband Tyson’s merit as he was honored with the Defensive Player of the Year Award in NYC.
Fresh off a fitting with Anna Wintour, who personally invited the couple to the Met Costume Gala, Kim beamed with pride as she spoke about her fashion, Tyson’s favorite designers and how the two like to dress their little tikes.
GlobalGrind: Where do you guys get most of your style influence, both individually and as a couple?
Kimberly Chandler: As a couple we influence each other in terms of color palette and things like that, but individually, me personally, I love Stella McCartney. I am a Stella McCartney fanatic, so of course I get pieces from there, but the great thing is Zara, really recreating at a lower cost. I love mixing and matching, everything doesn’t have to be name brand and my entire outfit doesn’t have to be a million dollars. I love finding things that are most cost effective, that is more exciting.
Today I am simply wearing a Stella blouse and a gray H&M find, a cape for $19.99. I am really naturally slender so it has been hard to find a jean that fits me well and I am really into pants, structured pants. So for me AllSaints, hands down, they have great colors. I also love bags. Today I have a simple Chanel chain bag.
For Tyson, his influence comes from designers like Rick Owens, Alexander Wang for accessories, Helmut Lang and those types of things.
You mentioned before that you are going to the Met Costume Institute Gala, do you know what you are wearing?
Yes! I do, but I don’t know if I am able to say anything yet. I don’t really know how that works, but we were invited by Anna Wintour, which was amazing. We went to Vogue and she personally invited us and I am still sort of pinching myself because I cannot believe it. I went for the fitting today, she picked my outfit and I can tell you that I am wearing Valentino. She came in and gave her approval. I was just like, seriously?! Anna is in here with these gorgeous glasses and her beautiful tweed outfit saying, “Yes, yes I love it.” It is crazy! She is like the style God.
Is Tyson working his suit around what you are wearing? Has he seen the dress yet?
No he hasn’t seen it. In terms of color palettes he is going to match me, and we are just adding a little bit of detailing with the colors that I am wearing into his suit.
What about the little kiddies, where do you like shopping for children’s clothes?
For the kids I love Zara, I love Stella McCartney for kids, and I even love Gap for my baby, my 1 year old.
For boys, it is really difficult to find clothes for little boys and every little baby boy is walking around in Gap and I don’t really like for him to look just like everyone else, so I do a lot of internet shopping. I found this website called smallable which has Isabel Marant for boys, and I love Isabel Marant for myself, so I try to dress him like a miniature version of his dad. The site has all these big name brands but for kids, and you can catch them when they’re on sale, because I don’t like to spend big because they grow out of it. H&M for boys and Zara for boys are both great.
Be sure to keep Kim on your style radar, because once someone gets Anna Wintour’s much-coveted stamp of approval, they quickly catapult to the fashion forefront.
Check out some photos of the Knicks’ wife accompanying her husband as he accepted the Defensive Player of the Year Award in the gallery above!
