GlobalGrind caught up with Dallas Maverick and Team USA Basketball champion Tyson Chandler yesterday in the offices of design legend Joseph Abboud, minutes after taking a look at the design boards for ArgyleCulture, the Russell Simmons brand Abboud will be designing for Fall 2012.
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At seven feet, one inch tall, Chandler, 29, is a marvel to behold on and off the court.
He is graceful, talkative, quick to smile and easily shares his thoughts about fashion and art. In addition to sharing with us his frustrations finding clothes that fit, Tyson also revealed his love of art, his thoughts on the NBA lockout and designing his own clothes.
Here’s some of what the 2011 NBA Champion, husband and father of three told us before heading downtown to Printed Matter to scoop up all the copies of his ‘zine!
GlobalGrind: In your meeting with Joseph [Abboud] you talked about designing your own clothes. Can you talk about that a little more?
Tyson Chandler: Each individual has a unique sense of fashion, it is just putting everything together! The difficult thing for me was being 7’1”. I haven’t been able to find products that I can identify with, to be able to put on a shirt and say, this is Tyson Chandler.
I got together with my buddy Boswell, who designs suits, and I asked him if he can just start making me some everyday stuff, some button up shirts, some sweaters and some jackets that I can wear so I can start putting pieces together. We sat down and started to design some stuff. It went from there.
Above: Tyson at the 2011 ESPY Awards.
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You were 15 and you were seven feet tall. Back then, did you think it would be easier to find clothing once you made it to the NBA?
Yeah, I did. I thought once I got the money I would be able to find clothes, buy clothes, and have people make clothes for me. Now, I really understand that fashion is very difficult and it is very tough to find a person who knows your vision and what you’re looking for. There is really nothing ready-to-wear for a big guy who is really fashionable and fashion forward. It took a long time for me to get to where I am at now. I am not a fashion icon now or anything, but I just want to get to a point where I am comfortable with myself within my fashion.
Whose style or fashion do you admire in the NBA?
In the NBA? Oh, that is a tough one! I wouldn’t say I admire anybody’s fashion or style in the NBA. In all honesty, in other sports, Beckham: I love the way he dresses. I think Tom Brady really identifies himself with his fashion. [He wears things] that look like Tom Brady. When you see him do a press conference, you think, ‘That is exactly what he is supposed to look like.’ Even off the field, when he has his little rugged look. Those are two of the guys I think do a great job of selling themselves with their fashion in sports.
Where do you think your love of fashion came from? Was it because of the absence of clothes for yourself?
It definitely could be the absence of clothes. When I was younger… you could only get what you can afford, and everything was short. Everything was, pretty much, hand-me-downs, so I was essentially just being somebody else because I was wearing my bigger cousin’s clothes. Everything that I could afford, it wouldn’t be something that I would wear if I could afford something better. I guess it’s just my artistic side. Fashion is art and expression. When you put something on you are a billboard of yourself, it is a canvas that you create.
Above: Tyson in the lobby of Joseph Abboud showroom.
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In addition to fashion you have an interest in photography. Can you talk about that?
I have grown to love and appreciate art in all facets as I get older. Whether it be photography, painting, music, or fashion. I really got into it as I got older. I started painting during my down time and during the season.
What kind of paintings?
I do a lot of acrylic paintings. I will take a picture and I will try to capture it on canvas or I will just come in and start freelancing. A lot of it is of old record covers I have seen before, Bob Marley, Ray Charles, or something like that. I try to re-create them after my own vision. It’s really just something that relaxes me! During a game, I am always tense and wired. I have to come home at the end of the day and play with my kids, be with my family and be a husband. So it was just something to bridge that gap and even things out for me.
What are your thoughts on what is happening with the NBA lockout?
With the whole lockout, the only thing I can speak on is being locked out. It has been a difficult process when you get used to doing something your entire life. I’ve been playing basketball ever since I can remember. Having the game taken away from you and it being out of your hands and not being able to control whether you can go back and play, it’s a difficult thing to deal with.
Can you explain, to someone who is unfamiliar, what is happening with the lock out? What do you guys want as players?
I would have been able to answer that question yesterday. After [what happened] yesterday, I can’t talk about it anymore because it’s a legal issue; and it’s more logistics than it is what players have been fighting for. Now, it is out of our hands and taken to the lawyers hands. Now, they’ve got to figure things out and make things right.
Above: Tyson in the lobby of Joseph Abboud showroom.
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It must seem weird winning a Championship and then not being able to play. What is that feeling like for you?
It’s been tough because you go from such a high to a low. You go from winning a championship (and that is everybody’s dream) and you’re celebrating to [the point where you say], all right, enough celebrating! Now is the time when I am supposed to be playing. When the weather changes like this, it usually means I am in some city gearing up for the next match up and it is very weird. I am not going to get used to it, so I am not going to say that it is going to take some getting used to – but it is a matter of time before things get settled.
Earlier we were talking about fashion and the NBA. You said that people are wearing clothes that are fitter and closer to the body. What do you think that is in response to?
I really think it has a lot to do with the hip-hop culture, honestly. I think Jay-Z was a big part of the movement, and Kanye being accepted for his creative side. I think once somebody steps out of the box, someone who is respected, it drives everybody behind them. Our generation is very influenced by hip-hop culture so the fact that they stepped outside of the box and said, ‘I am no longer doing that, I am going to be me now,’ helped. Jay-Z turned into a business man, Kanye has always been Kanye and everybody has always respected the music. I think it has sent a wave, a message that you can be who you are and you aren’t going to get judged anymore. [Dressing like that] is accepted now and [hip-hop culture] just started this whole trend, which is a good thing.
Above: Tyson in discussion with designer Joseph Abboud.
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Dwyane Wade said recently in an interview with GQ that he stopped caring about the way people thought of him and his style choices.
It seems like a lot of players in the NBA were afraid of the shapes, or silhouette, of their own bodies, which is why they were wearing a lot of baggy things. Even player’s suits were cut terribly.
I agree. I think you’re exactly right! It was frowned upon to wear clothes that fit your body, you were always grouped with somebody that wasn’t you. Now with the baggy clothes, that was acceptable because that was what everybody was wearing, that was the culture. That was what was down and what they saw in the hood so people thought, ‘That’s what I’m going to wear.’ Now everybody is getting out of that no matter where you go! Even when you’re in your own neighborhood, you don’t see so much baggy clothes anymore, you see guys paying attention to what they wear. Even gangsters are dressing nice now. It is acceptable to be who you are and you can find your way through fashion.
Above: Tyson in discussion with designer Joseph Abboud
