Melo remains quiet about NBA future but has sights set on new fashion line

We’re well-versed with who Carmelo Anthony the NBA athlete is — even if we have no idea where he’s going next and who he’s going to play for. But there’s another passion brewing for Anthony.

While he’s figuring out his next move as far as the world of professional basketball is concerned — and no, he’s not ready to talk about it just yet — he’s hammering down on, perhaps, what will dominate his life after his basketball career, whenever that may be. He may not have figured out how his NBA career will end, but he’s ramped up on a new beginning.

It shouldn’t be all that surprising that Anthony is going full throttle on his fashion interests. Last year, after a summer of transforming into alter ego Hoodie Melo and becoming an Instagram and Twitter favorite because of it, Nike’s Jordan Brand smartly released a $65 Anthony-branded hoodie sweatshirt for his debut with the Oklahoma City Thunder (they bested his former team the New York Knicks that night). Right as the game was tipping off, the hoodie sold out in seven minutes. The streets wanted more.

And Anthony — and Hoodie Melo — has something for that.

It’d take him until this year, but the 10-time NBA All-Star is releasing a fashion line — yes, he sketches! — in collaboration with Famous Nobodys, a New York City-based streetwear brand. The new capsule is a collection of varsity jackets, joggers and, yes, hoodies. The collection, ME7O MADE, is currently being showcased inside the brand’s retail store, which is located in the Bronx and is primarily made up of black and gold pieces, picked only because of the striking color contrast and not because it hints as to Anthony’s next basketball move.

Anthony, on a break from working out in New York, talks about style, substance and being taken seriously in the fashion industry.

What is it about fashion that excites you?

It’s all about being greater than dreams. Having a mind that continues to design and come up with new, great ideas. When it comes to sketching, it’s just more about who you are, right? And I think for me, fashion is an extension of who I am, what I wear, who I am, my customers, my consumers, my fans. When people buy something that I’m a part of or creating, I feel like they’re buying into who I am as a person, as a creator, as a designer and just a human being at the end of the day.

So many people are paying attention to what NBA players wear pre- and postgame. When did you first notice that happening, and how did it change how you presented yourself?

Earlier in my career, fashion wasn’t accepted. You were supposed to look one specific way, so you’d have a suit on, a tie, and walk over to the game like you’re walking to a business room or a conference room. That was the perception. Then, as fashion started to transcend and evolve, the game started to evolve, and the players started to evolve. Players started becoming more and more younger, started getting more into fashion, then you started seeing guys being in fashion shows and doing collaboration with these designers. I think it had to do something with the mindset of the fashion world; the designers had to be willing to open their mind up to a new arena, which was sports. We walk into the arena, and for some fans, that’s the biggest moment. People want to see what guys are wearing. People want to see what their favorite players are wearing, [and] they want to be able to relate with that and connect with them.

Where do you look to get inspired?

I was always looking at what’s out there, just seeing what the trends were, what people were wearing, looking ahead at what the trends might be 12 to 15 months out, where that trend is going. So for me, I was always aware what was going on in the fashion world. But once I realized that now, because the game has changed so much, that fashion game, you don’t have to follow trends no more. And that’s where I felt like it was my time to really get out there, try to create and do something without having to follow the timelines of when the collections have to be ready, when they have to come out. I’d rather be independent than do things like that, and follow my own calendar. Whenever I feel like it’s ready to go, it’s ready to go. We don’t have to wait to the traditional fashion calendar.

Why are you doing your own fashion line now?

When you do some collaboration with these other designers, a lot of times it’s their vision with a little bit of your salt and pepper on there. But now with this, I have the opportunity to create and come up with these ideas and bring them to actual fruition. And people get a real understanding of what I’m trying to do and what I’m doing and just where the game is at now — the game meaning the fashion trends — in our society. You’re able to connect with people differently now than it was before. Before, it was magazines: You had to go buy the magazine to see what somebody was wearing. Now, it’s direct-to-consumer, you know? I can look at Instagram or social media and see what people are supporting and what the trend is and how I can get it too. There’s so much direct-to-consumer, so I feel like that’s where I can step in there and kinda take advantage of it.

Talk to me about being taken seriously with off-the-court interests. How has it been for you trying to navigate this fashion world?

I think doing it the way that I’m doing it now, it gives me a lot of respect. People are always gonna be skeptical, especially coming from an athlete. For me, I wanted to just navigate my way around and take my time on collaborations that I was doing and just being strategic with who I was working with. And I figured that if I go and do that the right way, and not force it upon people, then people will respect you. That’s what I’m feeling like right now.

I love that there’s a hoodie that’s part of this collection — is that a wink and a nod to Hoodie Melo?

It’s a part of who I am and it’s a part of our culture now, and it’s crazy that a hoodie is something that I’m kind of defined with. When you think of a hoodie, you think of Melo. It was something that wasn’t even thought about, it was something that just happened, so that right there told me something.

Last year, the first batch of Jordan Brand Melo Hoodies sold out in seven minutes. Do things like that surprise you? And how does that change how you approach the fashion you actually collaborate on? Knowing that people are tapped in the way that they are?

It inspires me to want to do more but also to still be strategic about what you’re doing. It was a no-brainer for me to put a hoodie out at that time. I didn’t think it was gonna sell out in seven minutes; it was just something that I wanted to do for my fans and for people who were connected to me and my brand. That was an extension of me. So for it to sell out in seven minutes, it actually surprised me. So then we came back with another one, and it sold out in 10, 11 minutes. If it’s something that’s working, if it ain’t broke, then why fix it?

The hoodie is so representative in the culture right now — both in style and even with social injustice, of which you’ve been very verbal about. You put your foot down about two years ago and started using your platform to speak out. How are you feeling about what’s happened in the last two years? Any progress you can see?

Am I happy about where we’re at right now? No, I’m not happy about where we’re at right now. And I know that we have ways to go, but for me it was more so about one step at a time. Let’s get people, quote-unquote, ‘woke.’ Let’s get people knowledgeable about what’s going on so we can understand what we have to do and where we have to go at the end of the day. So, as far as am I satisfied with where we at? No. I’m not satisfied, but I also know that there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and will continue to be done, but we can’t do it alone. We need everybody, as a whole, to get our whole community to be part of it.

You’ve played in a few markets now — which one is the most fashionable and had the most influence over your personal style?

Well, I mean I played in New York, it’s the fashion capital of the world. It doesn’t get better than that! You see so many different types of styles and trends and people just being free to do whatever they want to do, so there’s not one particular style in New York when you’re talking about fashion. Wait. Maybe it is. Timberland will always be the New York thing, but … you can look at 10 different people that’s walking around in New York and you see 10 different styles. There’s nobody mimicking the same style here in New York.

How has your style changed in the league in 15 years? You had braids and a baggy suit on draft day. You’ve clearly evolved …

I think we all look back at old pictures and start laughing and start realizing where we were at that point in time as a culture, as fashion, as a society. And it’s totally different. Yeah, I look back at it and I laugh at it, about where we was at, where I was at, what I was wearing. It’s a whole kind of 360 that the fashion world has done. I still take inspiration from those pictures as well, because all that stuff comes back in a circle. You see in fashion houses now who are starting to do a lot of the things that was popping back in the early 2000s or the ’90s or the late ’80s. You see those pieces starting to creep up back in there.

Who is the swaggiest out of CP3, LeBron James and D. Wade? What do you like about each of their styles?

What I like is that everybody has their own style. There ain’t nobody that you can say, ‘Oh, he looks like this person’ or ‘He looks like that one.’ Everybody has their own lane, and everybody has their own style, everybody has their own personality. You see that. You see it when you see them walk into the arena, when you’re around them, when you’re talking to them. You just look at them. You see what they wear is actually their personality, and it’s just a matter of how are you gonna switch it up, how you gonna play around with it. We all have our own different situation, our own different style, our own different vibe. There are some things that I might like that those guys might not like, or vice versa.

Why did you want to focus on street style?

If the streets don’t validate it, then it’s not proper. It’s not stylish. It’s easier to start the industry with something we really understand rather than going somewhere that we don’t understand, and we have to learn that whole system, that whole cycle. We’re comfortable with streetwear, we’re comfortable where we’re at, we’re comfortable with the things that we desire because we know that and we can put our own name to that.

Any desire to do a suit collection?

Yeah, and there are opportunities that are on the table right now. I’ve had opportunities before to do suit collections and doing things like that, but the timing was just off. People stopped wearing suits. The athletes stopped wearing suits. Ain’t nobody wearing suits. Especially in basketball, you don’t see nobody wearing suits no more. I didn’t want to create a suit line and nobody’s wearing it, right? The new way is being cozy. You want sweatpants, you want a hoodie, you want an overcoat, you want skullies and hoodies. You want those items right now. So when it comes back around then, yeah, of course. It will definitely be something that I’ll look into.

How would you describe your style?

Urban chic — it’s being able to take an urban piece or streetwear piece and extend it to names and places that nobody would be wanting to take it to. For an example, you start seeing Rag & Bone, who supposedly is a high-end line, starting to come out with streetwear. So you take that and you flip it for your style. You start seeing Valentino out there doing the same thing. Even though they’re high-end brands, couture dresses and couture suits and all of that stuff, now they’re starting to come down to the urban wear, to the streetwear. So how do you flip that, right? So, yeah, that’s my style right there. Urban chic.