The story of Caris LeVert and the suit that shook the world

Snap judgements about the NBA Draft can often miss the big picture, focusing in on players and storylines that won’t hold interest against the steady march of history. That being said, it’s probably safe to say that Caris LeVert and his evening at the 2016 NBA Draft will be remembered for years to come.

LeVert, a 6-7 wing from the University of Michigan, was projected by many to fall to the second round, or perhaps even go undrafted. With lottery talent but three serious injuries to his left leg and foot in a four-year college career, teams could be forgiven for cautious evaluation. Instead of sliding towards oblivion, LeVert had his name called at pick No. 20 by the Brooklyn Nets and he stepped down from the bleachers (he was not invited by the league to sit in the green room) in one of the most memorable suits the NBA Draft has ever seen.

The two-tone suit coat was done in school colors with the lines an obvious nod towards the school’s trademark ‘M’ logo. The NBA Draft has become a high-end fashion show, so getting yourself into the one suit that everyone was talking about the next day is no easy feat.

LeVert’s outfit was designed by Ethan Weisman, a custom clothier and the CEO of Pantheon Limited. You may also remember him as the guy who did Ezekiel Elliot’s crop-top for the the 2016 NFL Draft. According to Weisman, the colors were important to LeVert, and from there the idea came together pretty quickly.

“He said right away, ‘I don’t know what I want but I know I want school colors.’ What that’s called, when you use two random colors, is color blocking,” said Weisman. “Caris’ suit was the first red carpet look that I’ve used bold, geometric color blocking. When we were at his house, I noticed that with the way the lapel was shaped and the shoulders that if we do the color blocking on the top it would kind of look like a little M. So I got it all photoshopped in front of him and he looked at it and loved it right away.”

On the internet, matching school colors is easy as firing up Google and typing in RGB color values. Color-matching with high-end fabric can be a little bit different, according to Weisman.

“The Michigan navy blue wasn’t difficult, I’m a custom clothier, I’m a designer so I have tons of fabric. Blue is a very popular thing so I have hundreds, maybe even thousands of blues laying around. The blue was a very easy color. The yellow was very hard to find because we wanted an all-silk suit. For the yellow I had to hit up a mill in Italy that luckily had one-and-a-half yards left of this fabric. And in the picture, it looked exactly like it but you never know. But when I got it sent over to my tailors and then sent back to me, it looked just right.”

The lines and color scheme of LeVert’s suit may not have appealed to everyone — it was rated as both the best and the worst fashion choice of the evening — but the cut was on point. Even if you’re not trying to make a bold and memorable statement, when you’re 6-7, with 7.6 percent body fat and a 6-10 wingspan, simply picking something off the rack is not an option. Elongated limbs can make for a defensive nightmare on the court, but they require some adjustment in the fitting room.

“People like Caris, he’s very slender, the only difference between measuring him and a business man is that he’s taller. It’s fairly easy because I measure him in person, so it’s just making things a little bit longer,” said Weisman. “The football players that I do, that’s when it gets way more difficult — every part of their body is just abnormally and crazily big.”

That the NBA universe even had a chance to experience LeVert’s suit is something of a gift. Fans are not privy to most of the feedback and promises made by teams to draft prospects, but the league does try to cultivate behind-the-scenes information from teams in deciding who will be on their list of official invites. Not projected to go in the first round and not invited to sit in the green room by the NBA, LeVert could very well have stayed home.

All the work Weisman and his tailors had put in could have been tossed on the scrap heap of NBA Draft almost-history if not for LeVert’s willingness to take a risk and show up, and if not for the Brooklyn Nets, who took a gamble on his talent.

“When I very first met him, he was projected first round. Then slowly and slowly I’d look and he’d keep falling. Then I even got the call from Roc Nation [LeVert’s agency] saying that Caris would still like the suit but he had not been invited to the draft,” Weisman said. “Luckily, Roc Nation said they really thought he was going to get picked and they had Caris sitting in the stands. He was originally going to not go and Roc Nation was going to have a party for him, instead they last minute pushed the party back and they all went to the draft.”

Seeing LeVert have a chance to realize his dream was a moving experience. Seeing him do it in that suit was even better, especially for Weisman.

“It looked beautiful, I thought it was amazing. It turned out just exactly how I imagined it.”

LeVert is not expected to participate in Summer League for the Nets as he continues rehabbing from his last foot surgery. It may be awhile before he gets to make his first impression on the court, but LeVert has already loudly introduced himself to fans in Brooklyn and around the league as a player to watch.

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