The Knicks’s current streak has upped the ante, generating more content than ever — with the Saie logo splashed across the Garden. “The level of awareness is honestly, even hard for us to wrap our brains around,” Crowell says. “We haven’t lost a game in the last 10 games, so people are partying and celebrating with our billboard in the background. And then those TikToks get millions of views.” The brand awareness brought forth by the partnership has actively driven Sephora sales, too; all of Saie’s Knicks out-of-home advertising highlights their Sephora exclusivity.
Meanwhile, Sephora itself has leaned further into the NBA by partnering with LeagueFits, staging a series of player GRWM videos in a push to market men’s perfume.
Fan fashion is also reaching new heights, fueled both by the fervor surrounding the playoffs and the likes of Jenner and Woods sitting courtside. Searches for “courtside outfits” are up 67% year-on-year, and “Knicks game outfit women” is up 58%, according to Pinterest. Searches for “NBA game” has increased 50%, which suggests that fans are increasingly turning to Pinterest for inspiration around the game-day experience, not just the game itself.
Sports are increasingly shaping how people express themselves in everyday life, says Pinterest’s global trends and insights lead Sydney Stanback, from how they dress (jerseys, notably, are treated like a “hero piece”, with “jersey with heels outfit” up 81% year-on-year), to how they host (searches related to the “pantry watch party” trend surged). “We’re seeing that influence show up across multiple categories on Pinterest simultaneously, and that kind of momentum signals a broader cultural shift,” says Stanback.
Marisa Menist, a New York-based, Knicks-focused content creator (and one-time stylist of former Knicks player Patrick Ewing), has observed the cultural shift in real time. She links her Knicks game outfits regularly, and has noticed via her followers and ShopMy data that more female fans are drawing inspiration from her looks.
Menist believes that there’s an opportunity for brands to further tap into female basketball fans. While creators such as herself are often attending games in gifted, or sometimes paid, items, they’re rarely being dressed by brands or offered tickets for creators. They should be, she argues: the content does numbers. A viral courtside video in which Menist held up a sign asking to style player Jordan Clarkson received over 3.7 million views, while other Knicks-related posts garnered between 70,000 and 130,000 views.
Personal touch
The Knicks fanbase is a tight community, based in a city known for its fashion. To this end, personal fan style is especially significant when it comes to the Knicks economy. It offers a big opportunity for home-grown brands. “Locality also lends credibility. New York-coded brands like Kith, or Brooklyn-based labels like Haricot Vert, can feel more native to a Knicks moment than a national sponsor because they reflect how fans actually experience the team as part of the city’s identity,” says Emily Gordon-Smith, content director at trend forecasting firm Stylus.
Fortunately for New Yorkers, there’s a litany of unofficial, yet highly desirable Knicks merchandise available, and these brands are feeling the love from Knicks fans. Brooklyn-based independent accessories label Haricot Vert produced a 16-piece charm menu featuring the players and associated imagery (which includes a charm depicting a cheering Chalamet). It was a low-lift operation: founder Kelsey Armstrong came up with the idea when the Knicks made the finals on May 25, and the charms were available two days later. Sales surged immediately, with customers “rushing into the store,” Armstrong says.
