WBB: Esther Wallace talks Playa Society, women’s hoops growth

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 across the WNBA and college have donned Playa Society gear. The merchandise is praised for the high-quality and style, especially the hand-drawn shirts. Over the summer, a shirt and hoodie with the message “If You’re Just Now Tuning Into Women’s Basketball, We Told You So” met the moment. Wallace is currently working on the apparel line for the expansion Golden State Valkyries.

In an interview with Swish Appeal, Wallace looked back on the past year, the resonance of her company and what the future has in store.

During this period in women’s basketball where we’ve seen this growth in popularity, how has that affected your business?

I mean, it’s been quite a year. You know, this was my fourth season working with the WNBA, putting out merch. We went in to the season knowing that there would be an uptick. But that initial, I guess, cushion when I thought I doubled down on inventory to start the season and things like that, I mean, before when it was draft time and before the season even started, we were seeing items selling out and I had planned on not restocking those items for like a month or so. So right out the gate, once we started the WNBA season, we definitely noticed the impact and even before then, when we did the Final Four. We’ve been doing Final Four pop ups for the past two years now and so even there, we just saw long lines and, you know, just more affinity for the Playa Society brand. So all of that has been noticed. And, you know, I’m definitely really excited for what we’re seeing.

What is it about your brand that resonates so well with not just players in the WNBA and women’s college basketball, but also fans in general?

It’s authenticity. It’s like for me, it just seems like they’re not really strategic things or anything like that. It’s really just the nature of, you know, saying, “Hey, there’s something missing or there’s a problem. Let’s go take care of it. Let’s do it ourselves.” And I think that that’s the nature of the women’s sports community, because there’s, you know, so many peers that I have that have done the same thing in the media, on the media side or, you know, in other avenues. So I think it’s just so it was developed for the community and I think that’s just been evident and consistent throughout everything that we do.

Did you ever think in your wildest dreams that it would turn into this, that your business would grow at the same time that you’re seeing this explosion in popularity in women’s basketball?

I think it’s funny because, like, yes, I mean, you’re kind of like, well, you have these goals and you have this vision, like, you know, women’s basketball deserves better and if you do better, then things will be better. But at the same time, I couldn’t have actually put it into, you know, the actual vision that it is now. It’s one thing to believe that, you know, it’s going to go in the right direction. But it’s another thing to actually, like, see how that’s evolving and developing.

I think for me, the cool part is just like, well, yeah, look, we have our campaign. That’s what we told you so. So like, yeah, we told you women’s basketball was dope. We told you that the players were great. We told you all of these things. But to actually see how it’s shaping up, that’s a really cool part to me.

So where do you go from here? How do you build off of this? Where do we go from here?

Well, first things first is putting together a team. I mean, Playa has been super small for years, like all this time. And so really just making sure that the foundation is strong and that, you know, we’re a team of more passionate people contributing to the women’s sports community. And then, you know, I think it’s just a matter of continuing to take on these opportunities and take on these challenges. That’s my favorite part. I love a challenge. I love to solve problems, and so I want to keep doing that. So I want to keep showing up in different ways, in new ways for women’s sports, for the players, for their fans, for the leagues, all of those things.

Anything that you can share as far as what’s coming down the pike for Playa Society?

Yeah, I think in a few weeks we’ll have some exciting announcements. I don’t think we’re ready to say what it is now.

When is this? When is this actually coming out?

Sometime by the end of this week or early next week. Yeah, we’ll be showing up. We’ll have another little pop up activation in November. So we’re really excited about that. And then, you know, we’ll have a couple of items coming out during the holiday season that people have been asking us for. So I’m excited about that, too. And then, to be honest, I’m going to decompress a little bit and get ready for what’s going to be even crazier.

Is there anything else that you want to say about just the work of Playa Society and what it represents?

Yeah, I mean, I think Playa Society, the exciting thing is that we really are growing alongside women’s sports, women’s basketball, the WNBA. And so I think Playa Society has evolved into this, like, really this community-based business, not so much like just like we prioritize community, but we are deeply rooted in all of the direction, the decision making. We put out products based on what the fans are asking for, what people want. We make sure that we’re constantly interacting and having those conversations with the players and their fans. And so that’s really what the goal is, is kind of like to service the people. And I’m excited. This past year, we made our products more accessible, entering Dick’s Sporting Goods, and we’re hoping to grow that. You know, even those products were selling out pretty fast, so there’s still some calculations to do. But we’re hopeful and excited to be in more stores and to continue to do things like that and find, you know, kind of like this balance between giving people some really cool and exclusive things online, giving people some really accessible things in the stores and continuing to just, you know, deliver for the community.

That had to have been one of those moments where you felt like you made it when your products were being sold in Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Yeah, I think the funniest thing about it is when we launched into Dick’s Sporting Goods, everything’s happening so fast. And there’s so many moving pieces and not enough people on the team. So people were going to Dick’s Sporting Goods shopping and buying, and I’m relying on them to send me photos. I’m like, “Can you send me some photos? Like, what does it look like?” Because I haven’t even been to Dick’s Sporting Goods yet to see what the displays are like, how the product looks in the store. So that’s just, I think, the first time I went to a Dick’s Sporting Goods store was like All-Star Weekend. It was like the first time I saw Playa Society in the store.

We had already been there for like months. So it’s just funny how like you’re doing the work, you’re doing the work. You don’t always get to, like, experiencing the results of that. But again, the community, the customers are sending pictures, photos. So that’s really cool to have that.