Contrary to popular belief, beauty and sports work perfectly together. At least Glossier’s recent WNBA collaboration certainly proves this. In partnership with Project Backboard and artist Na Chainkua Reindorf, the iconic beauty brand renovated the Tompkins Square Park basketball court yesterday in Brooklyn. The goal? To improve park safety and encourage future generations of kids to get outside and play basketball.
“I have been making these sort of large scale paintings of different strong women,” Reindorf tells ESSENCE. “It’s an ongoing project that I’ve been working on for about four or five years now. I basically pulled those elements from the paintings and rearranged them onto the basketball court.”
To bring it all together, naturally, Reindorf was inspired by the impact of the WNBA; a league of women making an impact. “The eye in the painting is really about women reclaiming space and evoking confidence. I want them to feel like they have a place in the world.”
The Glossier CEO, Kyle Leahy, believes the refurbishment is the perfect way to engage with community and celebrate the beauty that surrounds us. “This partnership shows that you can be beautiful no matter what,” Leahy says. “It also shows that you can continue to build a world full of beauty in everyday life.” In this case, the new basketball court can empower and enable young girls to see a future for themselves in sports or beauty… and even both.
In addition to the refurbishment, there was surprise visit from Connecticut Sun’s player Brionna Jones, who gave us the tea on her first ever brand partnership with Glossier. “I love the brand, everything they stand for: from women’s empowerment to this sports crossover they’re doing,” Jones says. “Growing up, there wasn’t too much collaboration between athletes and the beauty world.” What’s more? The WNBA player is super grateful to be part of the initiative and cannot stop using the Glossier You perfume. “They have a really good scent and it smells so good.”
But this isn’t Glossier’s first time dabbling in the world of sports. The brand has been partnering with the WNBA since the pandemic in 2020, when they lifted the players’ spirits by sponsoring them. Cathy Engelbert, WNBA’s Commissioner, explains that this partnership all started in their WNBA bubble. And it makes sense. “The WNBA players sit at the intersection of sports, culture, lifestyle, including beauty and fashion,” as Engelbert says.
Leahy echos these sentiments and is driven to change how the world sees beauty; inspiring joy, confidence and freedom in people of all ages. “To me, sports and what the WNBA is doing to inspire that level of confidence and strength is incredibly powerful.”