NFL DRAFT DRAMA
How tailors fight each other to outfit players with snazzy suits
Ethan Weisman, a custom tailor from Columbus, Ohio, said he arrived this week in Las Vegas for the NFL draft with three extra suits – because he’s no rookie.
Needle and thread will get a tailor only so far at the draft, with many of the players expected to be picked in the first round Thursday determined to make a splash with custom-made suits.
In 2014, Weisman said, he made a blue suit with pink lining for Bradley Roby, then a cornerback out of Ohio State and Weisman’s first client projected to be picked in the first round. Sure enough, with Weisman watching the draft at home, Roby was a first-rounder, selected 31st overall by the Denver Broncos.
“I’m sitting there in Ohio with my friends and family, we’re all getting ready to see my suit,” Weisman said, “and he walks out and he’s wearing someone else’s suit.”
That’s right – a metallic gray jacket with burgundy pants, instead of the blue suit with pink lining.
“Later I found out what happened,” said Weisman, 31, who had gifted Roby the suit in hopes of developing him as a client. “I was like, ‘Oh, I noticed you wore someone else’s suit. Was everything OK with mine?’ He was, like, ‘Yeah, someone came up to my hotel room and showed me other options and convinced me to wear it.’
“After that, I made sure I was always at the draft. Now I’m going to be the guy that brings extra suits trying to convince people to not wear whatever they have.”
Turns out the custom-made suit business can be as cutthroat as football, only without referees around to watch for unsportsmanlike conduct as the competition grows.
“I knew once social media started to hit hard that there was going to be a lot more people thinking they can get in here,” said Percy Knox Jr., president of Élevée Lifestyle, which caters to professional athletes and makes suits for prospects at the NFL draft. “’There are a lot of people who’ve come and gone.”
‘I wanted to know what happened’
Weisman, who said he is working with three projected first-rounders – defensive tackle Jordan Davis of Georgia, defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt of Georgia and linebacker Devin Lloyd of Utah – is among the survivors, having built a strong clientele after the Roby incident.
Roby, who plays for the New Orleans Saints, declined to comment, a team spokesman said. Someone who did comment on the matter was Johanna Alba, who said she was the first woman to compete against tailors in the draft day suit business.
Alba said Roby helped her design the metallic gray and burgundy suit and expressed no sympathy for Weisman losing the client.
“The same thing happened to me with Jalen Ramsey,” she said, referring to the five-time Pro Bowl cornerback who was drafted fifth overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2016.
Clarence Jones, a veteran tailor from Memphis, Tennessee, said he was another draft day victim, with first-rounders Justin Blackmon and Fletcher Cox discarding his suits at the 2012 draft in favor of other garments.
“I wanted to know what happened,” he said. “No one could really tell me.”
Players double dipping with tailors and tailors swiping clients from each other is only part of the challenge.
Kayvon Thibodeaux, the Oregon defensive end expected to be picked as high as No. 2, forgot his draft suit in Los Angeles, where his family lives, before he left for Las Vegas, according to Ge Wang, the tailor who made the suit.
As of Wednesday morning, the suit – a classic navy silk blend – was in LA and Thibodeaux was in Las Vegas, according to Wang.
“They’ll figure it out,” Wang said Wednesday by text message, adding there are plenty of other suit-related snafus at NFL drafts. “Oh for sure.”
A suit advertised as one-of-a-kind safely hangs in a hotel closet in Las Vegas.
It belongs to Nakobe Dean, the Georgia linebacker who told USA TODAY Sports he’s wearing a blush-colored suit with a Baba Jagne harness, to be complemented with white Alexander McQueen sneakers and a Wear Brims hat.
It’s unlikely to create the same buzz as did Ezekiel Elliott’s so-called Crop Top suit, designed by Weisman for the 2016 draft. Elliott wore a crop top shirt that bared his bellybutton – and it caught the attention of Dean, who said he had his own fashion game plan for the draft.
“Just do something nobody really did before,” he told USA TODAY Sports, and added, “Have everyone be on the lookout.”
The process used to make Dean’s suit could be a game changer considering he never met or talked to the tailor, Alba.
Toni Lohe, a stylist from Miami, served as the quarterback, meeting with Dean in person once and then collaborating with Dean’s mother, Neketta, on the designs before they were sent to Alba. She shipped the suit to Las Vegas and it arrived Monday, whereupon Dean paraded around the hotel room in his blush-colored suit.
“It’s a real luxury service these days,” Lohe said. “Like, literally, we’re going to (the players). The tailors are going to them. This suit is shipped to them. It’s all luxury.”
‘Take the free clothes’
The investment in draft day suits can be a gamble, say tailors.
Carlton Dixon, the founder of Reveal Suits in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area, said he made his debut in the 2018 draft with six first-rounders by providing the suits for free.
His hope was that satisfied customers would come back for more suits with his signature licensed linings. None did, but Dixon said the exposure helped his business and he’s taking another gamble this year.
At the invitation of the NFL Players Association, Dixon is providing every first-round pick in this year’s draft a suit – once again, for free.
Clarence Jones, a veteran tailor for Memphis, said he usually won’t bother trying to compete against the likes of Dixon.
The suits range in price from $1,000 to $5,000, tailors said.
“If it’s free, I just move out of the way,” he said. “I tell (the players) to take the free clothes. I’d rather have them for the long term than just for the draft, for the one night.”
Gifting suits also sets up tailors for a draft day disappointment, according to Knox.
“If you pay the money, there’s a really good chance you’re going to end up wearing the suit,” he said, acknowledging that his company comps the draft day suit and charges for a second suit. “It’s a gamble. It’s a dicey proposition. You got to figure out who it is that you’re dealing with.”
But Cox suggests there’s a bigger issue: this is class of draft prospects that had the right to name, image and likeness (NIL) deals this past year. As a result, Cox said, athletes are even more aware of their value and their agents want a deal.
A typical proposal from agents, Knox said, is for the player to do some social media marketing in exchange for a free suit. As a result, Knox said, his company is working with five first-rounders this year, down from the usual eight or nine.
“Everybody’s opportunistic,” Knox said, adding that social media marketing is of limited value to his company because they sell to athletes, not to the masses.
In 2018, Rohit Mahbubani, a custom tailor in Oklahoma City, said before the draft he reached out directly to Kyler Murray, then the star quarterback at Oklahoma. To his amazement, Mahbubani said, Murray replied and soon the tailor was discussing designs with Murray’s mother.
The pink pinstriped suit Murray wore when he was picked No. 1 by the Arizona Cardinals was designed by Mahbubani, who said he was paid almost $5,000 for the suit. Now? No chance.
With players cashing in on NIL deals, Mahbubani said he’ll have to give up paydays for a negotiated deal.
Although
Knox said tailors have come and gone, and they’re coming – and one in particular.
Adonis Jennings, a former wide receiver at
Temple, made it onto the Green Bay Packers roster in 2018 and played in the now-defunct All American Football League (AAFL) in 2019 and XFL in 2020 – but his career as a tailor looks more promising.
This year he’s making suits for Aidan Hutchinson, the Michigan defense end and potential No. 1 pick. He also is working with Ikem Ekwonu, the North Carolina State offensive lineman viewed as a top-10 pick. He said he used connections to get to each player, but he already has credibility.
Last year Jennings suited his first first-round draft pick – Kwity Paye, a defensive end from North Carolina State who was picked 21st overall by the Indianapolis Colts. Paye wore an attention-getting suit dedicated to Marvel superhero Black Panther that earned favorable reviews.
This year, his suit could be the first one seen on the big stage at the draft.
“I got this, man,” Jennings told USA TODAY Sports. “I’m just excited for those guys and seeing their dreams come true and seeing my pieces on the big screen.”
Weisman expressed no intention of trying to swoop in with one of his three extra suits to steal Jennings’ clients. In fact, Weisman said he tried to get Jennings to work for him.
“It’s crazy how this industry works,” he said, “because you never know.”