When I walked into Hudson Yards to meet Jordan Clarkson, he’s sitting patiently on a green velvet couch, a dapper portrait of contentment. And why wouldn’t he be? Clarkson just won an NBA Championship with the New York Knicks. Plus, he’s wearing Thom Browne.
New York Fashion Week is all about bringing the extraordinary to a city that is its own fashion mood board. And on the short list of NBA players with the best fits in the game, Clarkson ranks near the top. He’s a tunnel superstar: the kind of guy who gets “ooh’d” and “aaah’d” while walking into the arena before a big game, inspiring devotion for more than just his wildly untamed style of play.
Taking on a selfless bench role for the 2025-2026 Knicks, Clarkson helped bring an NBA title to a starving fanbase. And by fitting his game to the team’s needs, he’s become a folk hero in a city that really loves its basketball, almost as much as it loves fashion. It was fitting, then, that we got a few minutes with this month’s GQ Philippines cover star en route to the Thom Browne show to talk A Boogie, his newly permanent grills, and rejoining his Knicks family at training camp in two weeks.
How, exactly, have you become someone who’s a fixture at New York Fashion Week?
I think organically, honestly, it’s just been part of my DNA and what I do. So just hooping and being in the light kind of just pushed me a little more. I always have motion, so it’s just a regular day for me.
When did you first start to get into fashion? Was it when you were a teenager? When you got picked in the draft?
Probably when I was in middle school. I started just doing different things, trying different things out to make my look different.
One of the coolest things about this Knicks team is how cosmopolitan you all are. It feels like you guys hit every demographic, every type of player, every type of cool that there is. What does it mean to be a part of a team like that?
I mean, it’s great. I think it represents New York in a lot of ways in terms of different cultures, like you said, different people from different heritages coming together as one. I think the best thing about our championship was all of us coming together, sacrificing and getting the job done.
Who on the team can fuck with you fashion-wise?
OG [Anunoby].
One thing that I associate you with is individuality. You’re so punk rock on the basketball court, a show-stopping bucket-getter, and that’s what I’ve always respected about your game. But I’m curious, how have you had to soften that a little bit to play a more specific role in this Knicks team over the past year?
I mean, it’s still the same grit and grind, just a different way. I definitely was used to putting the ball in the basket, but that wasn’t what we needed as a team. We needed defense, we needed rebounding, just trying to find work wherever possible. So I just became one of those hardhat dudes that just wanted to impact the game and impact winning.
