september, 2023
Event Details
Join us for the Book Party of FLY, the bog book of Basketball Fashion with by Pulitzer prizer winning writer Mitchell S. Jackson.
About the book
Basketball is one of America’s most beloved sports, but some of the most impactful moments in the NBA’s 75-year history have little to do with the game itself. Players are not just superhuman athletes, but also style icons and social activists, influencing fashion and culture around the world. Fly: The Big Book of Basketball Fashion(Artisan Books; September 5, 2023) by critically acclaimed writer and winner of the2021 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing, Mitchell S. Jackson is the story of the extraordinary intersection of high fashion and basketball. Fly explores how the evolution of basketball fashion is a mirror of American culture, deftly weaving narratives of race, socioeconomic status, masculinity, and fame. Equal parts stunning, photo-richlook book, and cultural commentary, each chapter explores the style of an era and the cultural influences that shaped it–beginning with the NBA’s inception in1949, pre–civil rights movement, to the recent birth of the “tunnel walk”.
About the author
Mitchell S. Jackson is the winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing and the 2021 National Magazine Award in Feature Writing. Jackson’s debut novel, The Residue Years, won a Whiting Award and the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. His essay collection Survival Math was named a best book of 2019 by fifteen publications. Jackson’s other honors include fellowships, grants, and awards from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Creative Capital, the Cullman Center of the New York Public Library, the Lannan Foundation, PEN America, and TED. His writing has been featured on the cover of the New York Times Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, Time, and Esquire, as well as in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, the Paris Review, the Guardian, and elsewhere. Jackson is a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine and a columnist for Esquire. He holds the John O. Whiteman Dean’s Distinguished Professorship in the Department of English at Arizona State University
ABOUT FLY – The Big Book of Basketball Fashion
“Mitchell S. Jackson expertly fuses fashion and basketball, showing why players’ off court style can be as impactful as what they do in the game.” —NINA GARCIA, editor in chief, Elle
“In Fly, Jackson does more than compile a basketball/fashion look book, and it’s more than a timeline and history. To me, what he explores is the evergreen push to remind people that the talented are more than their talents. That there’s a burning creativity and a relentless desire to express oneself, not as a highlight but as a human.” —JASON REYNOLDS, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Stamped
“You cannot be a true enthusiast of sports or fashion if you don’t own a copy of this book. European designers are too often credited with the trends that spread around the world, and Jackson shows us that those designs are nothing without validation from the streets where many NBA athletes get their start. In this beautiful celebration of culture, he captures the role these athletes have played in style on a global scale.” —D. WATKINS, New York Times bestselling author of Where Tomorrows Aren’t Promised and Black Boy Smile
“NBA fashion has evolved so much over the years. To see the various styles worn by players throughout the eras—all in one book—is cool. Now with social media and the game being so global, everyone sees everything. NBA fashion has never been bigger.” —P.J. TUCKER, Philadelphia 76ers
