Breanna Stewart Brings NY Liberty Champion Energy to Met Gala in White Tux: ‘We Belong Here’

The WNBA legend dazzled in a custom Sergio Hudson design and spoke to SI Swimsuit about what it means to attend the biggest night in fashion.

Breanna Stewart / Taylor Hill/Getty Images

The WNBA is finally having its long-overdue cultural moment. The league has shattered viewership records across the regular season, finals and draft in recent years. Last fall, the New York Liberty clinched their first-ever WNBA championship—a particularly historic feat, as they were the last original franchise without a title despite six previous finals appearances. This year, the league welcomes its newest team, the Golden State Valkyries, signaling even more growth ahead. And now, basketball’s rising influence meets the world’s biggest fashion stage: Liberty icons Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu, alongside team owner Clara Wu Tsai, have secured highly coveted invitations to the Met Gala, redefining what it means to be a champion both on the court and in culture.

We caught up with Breanna Stewart, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and one of the most decorated athletes in basketball history, ahead of the May 5 event. The 30-year-old has become as much a force in fashion as she is on the court, known for her commanding tunnel looks and a groundbreaking partnership with PUMA that’s redefining athlete-brand collaborations.

Breanna Stewart / Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Tonight, styled by Courtney Mays and wearing a custom Sergio Hudson design, she steps into a new kind of spotlight. The Liberty forward—who holds the unmatched distinction of four consecutive NCAA championships, was the first overall pick in the 2016 WNBA Draft and capped last season with her second WNBA Championship and Finals MVP—brought her champion mentality to fashion’s grandest stage today.

Stewart wore a beautiful, crisp ivory tuxedo styled with a hand-embroidered sequin blouse and coordinating overcoat. She completed the look with an Audemars Piguet watch, Saint Laurent boots, Spinelli Kilcolin earrings and rings, Edward Avedis brooches and a Monrowe hat.

“[Hudson] designed something that felt bold and elevated, but also grounded in strength and unity, which is exactly what we represent as the Liberty,” Stewart tells SI Swimsuit. “There’s this beautiful balance of individuality and team energy, and I think that’s what made this collaboration so special.”

Breanna Stewart’s 2025 Met Gala Look Sketch by Sergio Hudson / Courtesy of Sergio Hudson

Mays approaches every project with personal style and cultural significance in mind. She sees fashion as a platform for important conversations and hopes this moment reflects her ongoing commitment to celebrating history, pushing the dialogue around self-expression in sports forward and empowering each woman to feel like the best version of herself.

“My goal as a stylist is always to lean heavily into the authenticity of that person, connect with their style sensibility or style desires, and help to elevate and execute that,” she explains.

And for Stewart, the meaning behind the moment goes far beyond the look itself.

“Champion” energy, on and off the court

The pillars behind Stewart’s Met Gala look—distinction, freedom and champion—are more than a dress code. They reflect the arc of her extraordinary career and the values she carries into every space she enters. Of the three, one stood out. “‘Champion’ hits closest to home,” the 2022 SI Swimsuit model explains. “It’s not just about winning on the court...it’s about championing causes, voices and representation.”

Breanna Stewart / Brandon Todd/Courtesy of New York Liberty

This moment is a reflection of the New York native’s commitment to advocating for social justice, equality and community development, and using her platform to champion LGBTQ+ causes and invest in basketball development programs.

She also continues to fight for equal pay, taking matters into her own hands last year and cofounding Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 league for elite players during the WNBA offseason, aiming to provide better work-life balance for athlete moms and offer equity stakes for players.

But beyond just accolades, Stewart wanted her Met Gala look to make a broader statement about identity, visibility and belonging. “I wanted my look to say that we belong here, in these spaces, not just as athletes, but as full expressions of culture, strength, and style,” she says.

Her custom look delivers exactly that. The design’s bold, architectural structure, paired with the flowing silhouette of the fabric, represents what Stewart describes as “a tribute to power in motion.”

Rewriting the narrative—and opening doors

As Stewart prepares to ascend the iconic Met steps, the magnitude of the moment settles in. “It will hit me as I am getting ready...seeing the look come together, hearing my daughter’s reaction, knowing what it represents,” she shares. The mom of two shares her kids, Ruby and Theo, with her wife Marta Xargay.

For years, women athletes have had to fight to be seen—not just in their sport, but in cultural spaces where their male counterparts have long dominated. Tonight, Stewart’s presence signals not just inclusion, but leadership. “Tonight feels like a door opening even wider,” she says.

Breanna Stewart / Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Her hope is simple but profound: “I hope young fans see possibility. That they know their dreams can stretch beyond the court, into fashion, art, leadership, whatever they want. That they’re not limited by anyone else’s definition of who they should be.”

Wu Tsai shares that vision. “The Liberty represent the best of New York—resilient, bold, diverse, forward-looking,” the business mogul, who also owns the New York Mets, says. “Appearing at the Met Gala signals that women’s basketball is not on the margins anymore. It’s stylish, influential, and belongs on the world’s biggest cultural stages.”

Stepping onto the Met Gala carpet “means everything” to Stewart. She sees the Liberty not just as a team, but as “a movement” committed to showing up as their full selves in every arena, and “tonight is another extension of that,” she says.

Attending the event is about so much more than fashion, though. It‘s about visibility, representation and expanding the definition of success for women in sports—and far beyond.

Next. ‘Living My Truth:’ Jonquel Jones Breaks Boundaries in Custom Sergio Hudson at the Met Gala. ‘Living My Truth:’ Jonquel Jones Breaks Boundaries in Custom Sergio Hudson at the Met Gala. dark