When Esther Wallace pitched the WNBA on an apparel partnership in 2021, she did not expect a yes.

Wallace, the founder and creative director of Playa Society, was only three years into business and said she was not ready for the league’s response.

“I thought I needed to have all these things checked off before I could get a partner that big, but when they said yes, it then became this kind of responsibility,” Wallace told USA TODAY Sports.

“Now I kind of got this new market to create, essentially, on my shoulders and have to show everybody … this can be successful.

“That everybody else was wrong when they said you couldn’t sell women’s sports merch or WNBA merch. I felt all of that pressure kind of in my hands, like I have to carry this torch now.”

The former basketball player and coach released her first WNBA collaboration at the end of the 2021 season. By the midpoint of the next year, she was at the 2022 WNBA All-Star game in Chicago selling 100 T-shirts and some shorts.

Wallace said she was not overly confident in what she brought to the event, but an interaction with Hall of Famer Sylvia Fowles changed that. Fans wanted a Fowles-specific shirt because the center was retiring, and Wallace made one.

Word reached Fowles, who found Wallace after the game, hugged her and thanked her for honoring the WNBA and her legacy. Wallace said that moment reminded her she was exactly where she needed to be.

“That was really the moment where I was like, this is why this is so important. This is why I was like I need to continue to build this and to continue to grow and move in that direction. That was really what did it for me,” Wallace said.

“It’s the (story.) It’s not about a T-shirt. It’s not about putting product on the market. It’s about celebrating the women. It’s about this community. It’s about the stories that go untold and the players that go unseen.”

By 2023, Playa Society was growing alongside the WNBA, women’s basketball and women’s sports. Wallace held her first pop-up shop at the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four in Dallas.

She described it as a “small room” with a “small budget,” but told USA TODAY Sports that 600 customers showed up over four hours. Many stayed after buying merchandise, and conversations that started with a shirt became something bigger.

Wallace said moments like Dallas started happening more often. As women’s sports grew in popularity, Playa Society did too.

She began working with college stars like Olivia Miles, and according to Wallace, Playa Society became the unofficial players’ brand in the WNBA, reaching legends like Sylvia Fowles and Candace Parker and current players such as Paige Bueckers.

“There’s so many elements of this that can’t be manufactured. Right? It’s just kind of like when you move from that authentic place, you build the authentic brand that tells authentic stories and has an authentic connection to the community,” Wallace said.

“The goal is always to find those connections within culture and community. I think that’s what we’ve always done, even just looking at how we essentially brought streetwear to women’s sports in the WNBA, right? Nobody was making that connection.”

Playa Society has since moved from player T-shirts to projects including a custom court with the Atlanta Dream and a “Love and Basketball” collaboration last year.

Wallace told USA TODAY Sports she wants to be “the GOAT” of T-shirts and clothing in the women’s sports space, and said that means focusing on quality over quantity.

“I always want to make sure that I’m holding myself to that high standard, but, again, I think I just go back to, if I see Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray doing their TikTok taste tests, and they just happen to throw on a Playa Society shirt, for me, that means I’m successful in these moments because I’m creating product that they want to put on in their every day life and same with the fans,” Wallace said.

“When Angel Reese got traded, and everybody on Twitter’s like ‘Playa Society, we need that T-shirt,’ then I’m like we’re moving in the right direction because the fans and the players feel a connection.”

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