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

The New York Liberty player opened up to SI Swimsuit about how she and stylist Courtney Mays brought this year’s theme to life through fashion and identity.

Jonquel Jones / Sage East/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.

Jonquel Jones knows how to command a moment. The 6’6” forward-center makes her Met Gala debut today, stepping onto the iconic steps in a leather-accented Sergio Hudson design that fuses glamour, power and personal history.

The 31-year-old wore a custom double-breasted jacket in croc-embossed leather, paired with black crepe bootcut trousers. She completed the look with a Hublot watch, Jennifer Behr hair accessories, Magnanni shoes and Saidian Vintage jewels.

Jonquel Jones / Brandon Todd/Courtesy of New York Liberty

“It’s an honor to represent our team, women’s basketball and our fans at the Met Gala—in the city where we made history. This is a powerful moment and I’m so proud to be wearing Sergio Hudson on the carpet—a visionary Black designer and a powerful force in the fashion industry who has created a unique look that represents me and my style,” she said in a press release. “I’ve stepped into so many spaces I never could have even imagined as a kid, and the Met Gala is no exception. I am so fortunate to be living my truth in a design that simultaneously makes me feel confident and creatively pushes boundaries. Tonight I’ll stand alongside my fellow champions—Clara, Stewie, and Sab—and show the world that women athletes both belong in and dominate these cultural spaces.”

The 30-year-old has long been known for bringing bold style and authenticity to every arena. But tonight’s appearance carried even deeper meaning. Styled by Courtney Mays and wearing a custom creation by the fashion guru, Jones joined her Liberty teammates in showcasing looks inspired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” exhibition—a celebration of Black style, identity and cultural storytelling.

“Working with Sergio Hudson is full circle with some of the things that have helped me to become who I am,” Jones tells SI Swimsuit. “When I think back on my journey with personal style, leather was the first thing that I really used to find my individuality. For leather to show up in such a big way for me at the Met Gala is amazing.”

Jonquel Jones’s 2025 Met Gala Look Sketch by Sergio Hudson / Courtesy of New York Liberty

Hudson, known for dressing icons including Beyoncé and Vice President Kamala Harris, drew from Jones’s early style inspirations to craft a look that felt both striking and deeply personal. “Sergio has done an amazing job of pulling that inspiration into my look on the biggest stage,” Jones adds.

Embracing freedom and individuality

For the Bahamian athlete, who was the No. 6 overall pick in 2016, the Met Gala was not just a fashion milestone, but a celebration of personal growth and team legacy. Of the Liberty’s three core values—distinction, freedom and champion—it was freedom that resonated most.

“It took me a while to be comfortable with who I was and to live my truth,” she admits. “Now that I am doing that and I have experienced what it means to step into yourself fully, it resonates really well with me.”

Jonquel Jones / Brandon Todd/Courtesy of New York Liberty

Her journey—from the Bahamas to WNBA MVP to champion in New York—has been defined by fully stepping into her identity. And that triumph isn’t just one-dimensional.

“It is indicative of New York in general,” Jones explains. “In winning a franchise first WNBA Championship, we have done something that no one else has done in this city and it is amazing to be acknowledged and loved in that way.”

The moment felt real when she tried on Hudson’s design for the first time. “I saw Sergio’s vision and the things we have talked about come to fruition. Now it is all about embracing this moment and going out there and representing women’s basketball, and women’s sports well.”

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Redefining Black style, identity and cultural influence

As Jones ascended the Met steps, she carried more than her personal story. Her look aligned with the exhibition’s deeper message: celebrating Black style and its connection to identity, empowerment and rebellion.

Mays says working with the athletes on bringing this year’s theme to life was “profoundly personal.” The team’s continued mission of championing and empowering the community echoes her own commitment to honoring legacy, elevating identity and using style to drive meaningful change. “We are redefining what a champion looks like and placing a spotlight on the multifaceted ways womanhood exists in sport,” she said in a press release.

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That purpose extended beyond sports to a broader cultural statement. “In my opinion, this moment is so much about saying to the world that Black style in all its iterations—from 19th-century dandyism to the elaborate archetypes of today’s Black cultural icons—is the foundation and influence of style in general,” Mays says.

She adds that dandyism is about confidently presenting oneself to the world, defying labels and stereotypes. “That notion alone speaks so clearly to all of our experiences getting dressed—especially for the WNBA, who are more recently being recognized as influencers of style.”

Mays also saw the night as an opportunity to challenge the narrow standards often placed on female athletes. Too often, she notes, “women’s style [is] defined so rigidly by what men deem as attractive.” She hopes the Liberty’s appearance reasserts the notion that “to be a woman in sport can mean both skirt and suit” and breaks beyond traditional ideas of femininity and masculinity.

Breanna Stewart, Clara Wu Tsai, Courtney Mays, Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu / Brandon Todd/Courtesy of New York Liberty

For Jones, the moment was also about setting an example for the next generation. She hopes young fans will see the Liberty’s presence on the Met Gala carpet as proof that “anything is attainable through hard work and following your dreams.”

Looking back, she reflects on the many unexpected spaces her journey has led her to—places she once never imagined entering as a young girl. And through it all, she’s found one truth: “When you are living your purpose and your truth, things come together well.”

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