Lexie Hull Talks WNBA Tunnel ‘Fits and Her Athleta Partnership

During a recent one-on-one tournament in the new Unrivaled basketball league, Rose Basketball Club’s shooting guard Lexie Hull went viral after she walked out to “Set It Off” by Boosie Badazz. As it turns out, the song choice wasn’t exactly Hull’s idea. Rather, it was part of a bet with her teammates Kahleah Copper and Angel Reese, and the former had to cough up $1000 after Hull willingly walked out to the unexpected track. “I made $1000 off that, so I’ll take it any day,” Hull says when the topic is brought up on our recent Zoom call. Naturally, I ask how she plans to spend her winnings. “I’m constantly buying clothes, so I’m sure a part of it will go toward a new outfit,” she says.

In her two seasons with the Indiana Fever (Hull was drafted as the sixth overall pick by the team in the 2022 WNBA Draft), the Spokane, Washington, native has amassed quite the following on TikTok, where she shares every detail of her pre-game looks with more than 100,000 loyal followers. They always start the same: “Hi, I’m Lexie, and I play with the Indiana Fever.” “We have our 36th game of the season today at home against the Atlanta Dream … and this is my outfit for the day,” she continues in one of her last videos from the 2024 regular season. In the post, she’s wearing a matching sports bra, jacket, and leggings from Athleta, a brand hardly short of love on Hull’s feed.

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Half the time, Hull can be found in the tunnel wearing a matching set, either donning a coordinating skirt and jacket, a more casual sweatsuit, or some sort of athleisure combo. Accessories always play a role, making it clear that Hull’s interest in style isn’t just because WNBA tunnel ‘fits have taken off in the last few seasons on social media. Creating outfits that fit her personal style is something she’s loved and has been passionate about since she was young. “I’ve always been very into shopping and buying clothes,” she says. According to Hull, she and her twin sister Lacie, who she played basketball with at Stanford University, would take whatever budget their parents gave them and turn shopping into a game. “We would go and try to put together as many cute outfits as we could,” she says. Her interest in fashion never wavered, but now, she has far more eyes on her outfits. And Hull knows it.

When it came time to start thinking about partnerships with fashion brands—an increasingly more common practice for anyone playing professional women’s basketball—one felt like the obvious choice. After test-driving a selection of Athleta’s pieces, Hull came to appreciate not only the brand’s attention to quality and comfort but also its entire ethos. “It was just a very natural partnership for me,” she says. “My favorite part is that the brand itself is so focused on empowering women—not only athletes but every woman.” It provides solutions for all its customers, empowering them to become the very best version of themselves. “I wanted to partner with a brand that aligned with my values,” she says. “Philanthropy, giving back, and empowering women—those are all things that I value a lot, and they’re also all things that Athleta values and are big [aspects of the brand’s] mission.” Everything, according to Hull, aligned perfectly.

With so many people now interested in what professional athletes are wearing, whether to a pre-season game or the finals, it’s important for them to pay attention to what the brands they wear say about them. Most fans will never meet their favorite players, and if they do, it’s likely only for a second—enough time to get an autograph or take a photo. What athletes choose to wear is an unspoken form of communication and a way for their fans to register what they prioritize and care about. “It’s fun to be able to share a piece of who I am and what I stand for through the clothes that I wear,” says Hull.

Through the partnership, Hull became a member of Athleta’s Power of She Collective, joining fellow WNBA and Unrivaled player Kate Martin and Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky. According to Jenny Campbell, Athleta’s head of marketing, the Power of She is more than a campaign; it’s Athleta’s mission and purpose. “We know that when women move, the world grows stronger, which is why we have always been focused on moving the world forward by igniting the Power of She,” she says. “The Power of She Collective is focused on partnering with the whole athlete, and Lexie inspires women and girls to build confidence and strength across every area of their lives.” Campbell sees Hull as, yes, a powerhouse on the court but also a style icon and budding entrepreneur. By partnering with her, all parties involved win. “We’re strengthening our partnerships and introducing the brand to their fans, who may not have shopped at Athleta before,” says Campbell. Meanwhile, Hull is introduced to Athleta’s international customer base.

At the moment, Hull is in the midst of a transitional period with her style as she works to elevate her wardrobe’s backbone items, using fun accessories and on-trend pieces here and there to make those rotational staples feel different and unique to her tastes. Content creators like Morgan Riddle and Paige Lorenze were among those who inspired this switch. “I love all the tennis girlfriends,” Hull says. “I just think their simple, effortless, but very put-together look is perfect.” As she’s getting older, Hull says she’s trying to find elevated basics that might be more expensive than what she’s previously worn but make a big difference in terms of ease and appearance. “When people are wearing them, you just know,” she says. In Hull’s opinion, Riddle and Lorenze have mastered that balance between trends and anti-trends.

Being a pro athlete, Hull lives out of a suitcase most of the year, which is another reason why she wants to invest in pieces that can be worn over and over again in different ways. “When you’re packing for a long period of time, it’s those neutral colors that you can build multiple outfits around,” she says. There isn’t room in her lifestyle for pieces in her wardrobe to only work in one way—they have to be versatile and able to match with four or five other things in her luggage. “It’s not going to be the same outfit, but it’ll have some similar pieces,” she adds.

This is especially important given how much attention Hull and her fellow WNBA players’ tunnel ‘fits receive at every game. Hull doesn’t work with a stylist like others in the league do, so she has to keep her looks interesting on her own, all the while being away from her closet in Indianapolis for much of the season. But it’s not that she’s complaining. According to her, hiring a stylist has never felt super important or necessary, even now that she has more media commitments and events to attend that require photo-worthy ensembles. “You have to pay for it, and you don’t get to keep the clothes a lot of the time,” she says about having a stylist. Plus, she actually enjoys styling herself. “For some people, it’s too much of an ask and too much of a headache to do prior to a game,” she explains. “For me, that’s part of my pre-game routine—it is in the schedule.”

While I was talking to Hull, whether about her new position in Athleta’s Power of She Collective or the contents of her TikTok algorithm (which she says she built brick by brick), one thing about her became clear: Fashion and style are core to her being and a significant part of what makes her such an impactful member of both her teams, Rose Basketball Club and the Indiana Fever. When she puts together a good outfit on game day, her confidence shows from tip to buzzer, and with Unrivaled’s inaugural playoffs coming up and the WNBA’s biggest season yet kicking off in April, opportunities for her to display that confidence, both in the tunnel and on the court, are aplenty.

These big moments in the sport also provide chances for fans of number 10 to get to know her better. “What you wear really does showcase who you are,” says Hull. “When I see people dressing like me, I think, ‘Oh, we would probably get along.'” The same goes for Hull’s fans. Through the partnerships she chooses and the outfits she wears, Hull is building lifelong relationships with her fans, from young girls to established followers of women’s basketball. In turn, she’s setting herself up for long-term success across the sport and doing the things she’s loved since she was a kid—playing basketball and putting together outfits—in the process.