There are more eyes on the WNBA this season than ever before. The increased visibility also brought more attention to the players themselves, including their style. According to , the W Tunnel became the “hottest runway of the year,” and he stated that “officially a fashion destination.”

Nowadays, brands are demanding cooperation with WNBA players. More and more often, female players are hiring stylists to assist them look their best, and athletes like Angel Reese, Cameron BrinkSkylar Diggins-Smith and DiJonai Carrington are each legitimate fashion icons. But so are players who wear more masculine or androgynous clothing, like Arike Ogunbowale, Courtney Williams and Diamond DeShields, whose looks don’t get the eye or praise they deserve.

“Sometimes when we look at female athletes, we assume that fashionable means ‘feminine,’ and a lot of the WNBA players who present themselves more masculinely actually have style,” said Amadi Brooks of Styling by Amadi B.who works with Sydney Colson and A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces. “That’s the beautiful thing about the W — it’s such a broad scope.”

Styling masculine women is an art form in itself, and curating fashionable looks that transcend traditionally feminine silhouettes takes thought and intention. Players like Connecticut Sun star Alyssa Thomas are elevating their fashion this yr with stylists who help them achieve that, while others have been doing it quietly for years.

“Having a stylist isn’t as niche anymore, and it doesn’t have to be a secret,” Brooks said.

“Until this year we were only here on business, you know?” Thomas said “We used to come in to do our job… But now when we put on clothes and stop to take a picture, people are so fascinated by it, and I mean, I’m super into it.”

The WNBA has probably the most gender-diverse sense of fashion almost every other skilled sports league on the planet, and that is a part of what makes W unique. “The WNBA fan subculture respects and celebrates men’s fashion choices without stripping these players of their femininity,” Lauren Hindman, Ajhanai Keaton, and Nefertiti Walker wrote in . But it happens all too often that players whose style is highlighted by the media are those whose clothing tends to evolve to conventionally feminine standards and modes of self-expression.

The WNBA players have fought hard to be themselves on and off the court. As the WNBA grows in popularity, it’s much more necessary to make sure that visible queerness and gender diversity of the league usually are not erased. Helping players find a mode that’s true to who they’re is vital, not just for their very own comfort, but additionally for his or her performance on the court.

“I want to make sure I stay true to the athlete,” Brooks said of her approach to dressing her clients, who include NBA and WNBA players. “That’s even more important when you’re working with an athlete, because their confidence going into a big moment like a game can affect them, so you don’t want them to feel out of their body or not being themselves.”

Marisa Ripepi Marisa Styled dressed Connecticut Sun star Alyssa Thomas (together along with her teammate and fiancée DeWanna Bonner) for the reason that starting of this season. Ripepi stressed how necessary comfort is for somebody like Thomas, and that is where her choice of items begins.

“When we started working together, she told me she really admired Devin Booker’s style,” Ripepi said. “Alyssa’s style is comfortable and stylish, but casual. We always try to take it up a notch.”

For Ripepi, that meant slowly getting Thomas to try latest things. They style one another every month, and Ripepi said Thomas’ outfits began to evolve over the course of the season, as denim set She appeared within the Sun’s match against the Los Angeles Sparks on June 18.

“When she first came to me and said she wanted a certain look, I would give her exactly that so she knew I understood her vision,” Ripepi said. “But as we worked together for a while and built trust, that’s when I started throwing in more stuff. The goal is to elevate the look, but for her style.”

Some players, like Washington Mystics point guard Brittney “Slim” Sykes, don’t have any problem pushing the boundaries in terms of what they wear, but they need skilled guidance on which direction to go. “She likes to expand her horizons and try new things,” says Sykes’ stylist, Juwan Williams of Styling: Cozhe said. “I love it when someone likes to be open to new things.”

Williams, who has been working with Sykes for several seasons, said the push into streetwear helped her find her voice. Her confidence grew as she learned to decorate her body and see positive feedback on her outfits, including last season in GQ Sports“Now that she’s a little more confident, she consults with me about fittings,” Williams said. “She chooses her own outfits, and I approve them.”

Another key to styling women in men’s clothing is all the time being attentive to fit—and having a very good tailor on speed dial. “Although (we can) dress Syd in men’s clothing, we have to be picky about how the clothes fit her waist,” Brooks said. “What fits a man’s thigh might not fit a woman, so we might have to go up a size and change her waist, for example.”

Brooks said that working with Colson is fun because her style is a combination of masculinity and femininity. She cited Sheila Rashid’s Jumpsuit which Colson wore to the Aces’ May 25 game against the Indiana Fever for example of this duality. Colson had previously worn more androgynous looks on game day and decided to vary that as much as be unpredictable. So they decided to wear her topless under Colson’s cropped blazer, giving it a female twist.

What Colson wears is just as necessary as what she wears. “It’s important to Syd to represent both sides of masculinity and femininity, but also to highlight underrepresented brands, Black-owned brands,” Brooks said. “She’s mindful of that and would rather highlight those brands than the typical big fashion brands.”

But for a lot of players, having a stylist is about greater than just looking good. Many athletes have their very own innate sense of fashion and may do an incredible job dressing, but putting together outfits takes mental energy and time. An expert athlete’s schedule is already exhausting and demanding, and having a stylist can allow players to delegate their outfits to another person.

“A lot of players want to look their best, and maybe that means getting a stylist to take some of that pressure off of them, but they still feel good about how they look,” Brooks said. “People don’t consider how much time having a stylist can save them, but for some of my clients it’s one less thing to think about on game day.”