Five Fits With: NBA Star Kelly Oubre Jr.
This week’s subject, Kelly Oubre Jr., is known for his style, on and off the court. A simple search on the internet will reveal countless images of the basketball player in unique outfits—some with a touch of rockstar flare, some cozier than others—but all of them display a man in control of his narrative, riding his own wave. Selected 15th overall in the 2015 NBA draft, Oubre Jr. is now a veteran, averaging his highest points-per-game total last season with the Charlotte Hornets with 20.3. What you might not know is that he also has his own clothing brand, Dope$oul, and for him, it’s a conduit to help its wearers and supporters realize their potential—and greater heights.
Below, Kelly and I discuss the impact his home city of New Orleans had on him, the thrill of thrifting, developing personal style through different phases of life, and plenty of other topics.
Fit One
Tell me a bit about your upbringing and how you made your way to professional basketball. I read somewhere you were more into karate than ball growing up.
I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and there's not much to do other than to go play sports or go be in the streets. I didn't grow up in the best area. My dad had to focus my energy to do something positive for myself. I guess it was his plan to help me be more disciplined and learn how to fall and get back up. He put me in Taekwondo and that's where I started my athletic journey. I saw that all the way through until I got a black belt. At that point, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I didn't want to be the Karate Kid my whole life. After you get your black belt, you have to either become a sensei or just get ranks and become an instructor in the class. I didn't want to do that because it's like having a job at 12 years old. So, I was like, "Yeah, I think I'm going to go play basketball." He started bringing me to the open runs that he would go to when he played. I fell in love with the passion and the different styles of how everybody played the game. He was a power forward. He was 6’4”, undersized, but he played with so much rage and anger and I kind of fell in love with that competitiveness from my dad and took it from there. He was a big influence.
Can you remember the first moment you fell in love with clothing and style?
Growing up in New Orleans, man, it's just a lot of culture. It's a lot of jazz music, it's a lot of blingy clothes. You have second lines, which are like dance festivals out there. People dress up and they walk the street and dance the whole way through with the live band playing. My city of New Orleans, man, it grew me to loving art and loving eccentricity and fashion and music. I would just like to give credit to the place that birthed me for inspiring me to love clothes and love fashion and always want to be put together.
Fit Two
Do you remember your first big purchase?
When I first got to the NBA, I used to go to stores like Riccardi in Boston, which is a really nice store that sells Chrome Hearts. They sell Off-White. All the trendy, hyped stuff. I used to go to Project Blitz, too. Shout out to my boy Dre. He's out in L.A. He has a warehouse full of Supreme. Patron of the New, here in New York. Shout out my boy Jonathan. I used to go to these stores and get inspiration. Back in the day, I was very novice to my creativity and what I could do and I just let the money lead me. I learned quickly that wasn't my style. I don't go shopping and just buy things off the rack anymore. But I used to go to places like that a lot and spend $5,000. You own a lot of clothes and they just sit there until you wear them. I love thrifting and vintage clothing because you can find timeless pieces you could keep and wear forever, or give them back so somebody else can enjoy them.
How have you developed your personal style?
Just learning. I’ve always been somebody to work with what I got. Even when I was in high school and we didn't have money, I was still fashionable because I knew how to mix outfits together, even though I’d repeat pieces from other outfits. I would mix them together and then they would look like a brand-new outfit. I had to be creative. I went to a public school and because I was an athlete, I could always use that as a scapegoat and just wear slides and basketball shorts. I really like to look good and feel good about myself. I learned from not wanting to look like other people, ever. I always like to be different and in my own lane, on my own wave. Going off of how I feel over the years, how I feel is what I wear. I wake up one day and feel preppy, I'll wear something preppy. I'll wake up one day and feel super grungy and I'll wear something grungy. It's that freedom of expression, man. That's where I learned and I find my happy place in fashion.
Fit Three
You and your wife just had your second child. Has fatherhood changed how you approach clothing and style?
I definitely have a dad swag now when I'm at home. I wear what I got on to go to sleep during the day if I have to go run errands or do stuff. Nowadays, it's like I only dress up if I'm doing a photo shoot or going to an event. You can save your clothes for longer that way and I like that. I definitely have a more chill style, but my fashion doesn't change. I still know how to put outfits together. I still love doing that, too. So, yes and no.
How has the role style plays in the NBA changed since you entered the league? What do you think about tunnel fits?
Man, I don't want to say anything controversial here, but coming into the league, I looked around and Dwyane Wade was the only fashionable guy. He had his Way of Wade brand and he was doing a lot of things with the big [fashion] houses. Plus, he was super famous. Dwayne Wade was the only person that I knew of as a fashionable individual. When I came into the league, I used to wear a lot of crazy, wild, eccentric things and create my own niche in the fashion lane. Then I start seeing PR teams and players get pushed to go get stylists, to go wear certain things to the tunnel because that became a thing around 2014 or 2015, when I was coming up.
I was leading that charge because all the cameras wanted to see what I was wearing. I’d come to the games wearing controversial jackets, trying to do things to express myself and say hello to the world, I guess. It was ignorant, obviously, but yeah, I kicked down that door. When I got to the league, it was guys like me, DeAngelo Russell, who has great style…Jordan Clarkson was already in the league, but you know, look at JC's evolution. He didn't have any tattoos. He didn't have anything. Now he has a stylist and he's doing all of this stuff, which is respectable, but I think we pushed that pace of fashion in the NBA. Those are my top three fashionable individuals, who have been doing it for years. Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] has come along and he's up there, too. You have to go back and look at these dudes’ outfits. Pull up pictures from 2003 or around that era. They really followed the trends and the patterns of the way the clothes fit. That's not what I did. I never followed a trend. I never followed something that was hyped or what everybody else was wearing. I don't like doing anything anybody else likes doing.
Fit Four
You have your own brand, Dope$oul. What's the inspiration behind the brand and why choose to start a streetwear brand in a world full of streetwear brands?
I'm crazy, bro. I like to swim against the current. I like the challenge. But my brand is deep down to the core of the soul of a human being. Human beings, once they realize their full potential, all have dope souls. It's about finding out what's dope within you. I use my clothes to bring timeless and luxurious streetwear back into this game. Everything is fast fashion now. Everything is either bought by a big house or just pumping out T-shirts and hoodies. My stuff is actually knit and sewn, with sourced fabrics, for the consumers to have my products forever. I want my stuff to live forever. Think about Chrome Hearts, who is in their own lane of luxury. They create their own things. Everything down to the buttons and the hardware that they use. That's the inspiration that I have for Dope$oul. I wanted to have a message behind all my capsules to help people find themselves and find their soul's full potential. But also just to express myself creatively through my clothes. That's why I decided to do it. I don't see anybody else putting their heart and soul into their brands like that. I see a lot of people trying to get money and, obviously, I would love to get a return on my investment with my brand, but it's more so about creating a community of people who want to be better and want to be the best version of themselves—and to also look dope while wearing cool clothes.
Talk to me about your partnership with Converse and how you've approached collaboration with such an iconic footwear brand.
Right before I came into the league, I went to Kansas, which was an Adidas school, and I signed to Adidas. The whole Yeezy influence was big on me. After my deal was up with them, I was a free agent for about half of a year. I was trying to wait to see what deal was best for me. Converse came to the table last out of all the brands that I was negotiating with, and they were like, "Look, we love your artistic side." I just wanted to create. I wanted to create on the blank canvas of somebody's shoe and Converse gave me the opportunity. They approached me on the lifestyle side of things. Obviously I'm a basketball player, so I wanted to design basketball shoes. They said, "Yes, we'll let you design all your PEs [player exclusives] and whatever ones you want to release to the public. We can do that." They gave me that ultimate freedom to create from the jump, and I'm forever grateful for them. Since I was one of the first athletes to get brought back up to the new relaunch of the brand, it was really like a baby for me. I'm blessed that they gave me that freedom because that's very rare nowadays.
Fit Five
If you had to wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I would wear my Dope$oul sweatsuit. It’s a hoodie and what I call the Messenger pants, which have a message on them to remind you of your power and your strength. The hoodie is just a nicely designed one that says, "Still," which means, "Soul till infinity." But at the end of the day, that's just my shit, and I'll feel comfortable wearing my own clothes. Shoes, I would wear some Converse One Stars.
What about watch selection? I see you had some different watches, today.
I would have to go with the good Apple Watch. It's comfort, man. If I have to wear it forever, I have to be comfortable. And then I would go with a Chrome Hearts hat.
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