Playa Society CEO and Creative Director, Esther Wallace, has spent the last seven years building a streetwear brand specializing in design and storytelling for women’s sports. In fact, Playa Society is so synonymous with excellence in women’s basketball that it became the catalyst for bringing two great storytellers together in Wallace and Gina Prince-Bythewood to create an epic collection that celebrates 25 years of the iconic film, Love & Basketball.
It’s fitting that the first time the film chooses to license its logo and assets that Playa Society is the chosen partner. Love & Basketball introduced us to Monica Wright’s character, who Playa Society describes as “the first representation of an unapologetic female athlete in film” and Playa Society was founded in 2018 as a project to promote representation for women in sports. According to Wallace, the film even inspired the name Playa Society. So this collaboration was definitely destined to be.
Wallace sat down with NBC Sports to break down the details of the year-long Love & Basketball campaign.
Esther Wallace’s interview with NBC Sports was lightly edited for length and clarity.
Esther, you just released an incredible collaboration for the 25th anniversary of Love & Basketball, working alongside Gina Prince-Bythewood and using models from the WNBA. Can you tell us how this incredible collaboration came together? Walk us through the process, how you ended up working with Natasha Cloud and Isabelle Harrison. Just let us know all the details.
Esther Wallace: Well, I’ll say the creative in me philosophically has to say this has been a lifetime in the making. Even just down to the details of my love for the film, Love & Basketball, of course, and even how the film inspired the name Playa Society. So, I feel like all this time has been training camp since the moment I saw this film.
Gina wanted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Love & Basketball, and she mentioned seeing Playa Society when she would go to games and when she would be around LA, whether it was, you know, collegiate games that she would go to or WNBA games and, really wanting to collaborate, specifically with Playa Society on this. So, you know, I was like, no brainer. It’s an instant yes for sure.
And then when we were were planning things out and planning the creative direction around it, Natasha Cloud has been a day one. Natasha and Izzy [Isabelle Harrison] have a beautiful love story, they’re teammates, and all of those things. And so, I just wanted to do something that was gonna celebrate, not only the film, but just the story, celebrate love, and represent it in a very unique way that I feel like only Playa Society really could bring together.
When you think about partnering with another storyteller like Gina, what was the process of that? How long did that process take? And just honestly, what was it like working with her?
Esther Wallace: I feel like with things like this, there’s no concept of time. You know, the assignment was get the job done, get it done. We wanted to drop this year. We might have had maybe two months or so. I could be off. Two to three months, I would say, to bring this together. Time always seems like it goes by fast because when you’re creating product, it always seems like you never have enough time no matter when you start. And sometimes I wish I could, like, take forever, especially with a project that I love so dearly or I’m so passionate about. I’d love to sit with it for, like, you know, a year if I could, but, of course, we wanted to get the project out, for the 25th anniversary. And, you know, Gina is the G.O.A.T. of storytelling for us, for the culture and all of those things. And so, I wanted to listen. I wanted to deliver. And, also keeping in mind that we’re doing something that’s planned for four quarters, so this was just the beginning for sure.
So when you say that, planned for four quarters, it’s a year long [campaign] right?
Esther Wallace: Yes.
You talked about working with Natasha and Izzy. Are there any moments from the shoot that stand out to you that [were], like, really fun or that you could share with us?
Esther Wallace: You know, I think the anticipation was high. Like, when are they gonna get here? And the minute they walked in, I mean, the mood, like, the energy, it’s just really special. And I think the whole time that we’re all on set, it was just like you could feel the energy and the love. And it’s just real authentic and down to earth and organic, and you can’t make that up. So I think that was amazing. And even just, watching them warm up, it was their first shoot together. So that was really special. Watching them get into a rhythm and just enjoy the atmosphere, the music. You know, we had to play the soundtrack from Love & Basketball, of course. And so, I think overall, it was just an energy, that was really special.
Gina called in as well. So we got Gina on FaceTime to say hi, and, Tasha and Izzy really expressed their love and appreciation for Gina, you know, wanting to do this with them as well. And so, a lot of those little things like that mean everything.
You mentioned that this was going to be something broken down into quarters. We cannot wait for what’s coming up. What can we expect from quarters two through four?
Esther Wallace: Let me say this. Like, we’re all about listening. You know, I know the movie very well, but at the end of the day, I think when everybody’s dropping their favorite lines in the comments on the posts, you know, we’re listening. We want to know. We did “Ball Better Than You” for this quarter, and so we’re kind of just like, what does everybody want? What do customers, what do fans of the film want? So that’s going to be a big theme across the board for every release or every drop.
I’ll say, some drops, you’ll be able to get throughout the year, the full year, and then some of them, you gotta be quick with it because they’ll be more limited pieces for sure. And I will also just say I’m still designing, so I can’t give away too much because I don’t know the answer.
The movie that inspired us to change the game. Shop Playa Society X Love and Basketball First Quarter | Ball Better Than You https://t.co/Fk34OcifkU pic.twitter.com/UwVCUU9nyZ
— Playa Society (@Playa_Society) December 5, 2025
[Do you] want to see potentially in the future, Sanaa Lathan rocking some merch, maybe at a Sparks game?
Sanaa at the Sparks game reppin PS 😍🔥 pic.twitter.com/uGoZboC2mH
— Playa Society (@Playa_Society) September 8, 2025
Esther Wallace: We’re gonna see what we can do. You know, I really enjoyed sketching Sanaa. We’re gonna celebrate the character, Monica, and her impact, on just, you know, film culture and women’s basketball because that was the first representation that we had on screen. And so, you know, we’re gonna do it big.
Sketching is my love language. This one is for Monica ❤️ Playa Society x Love and Basketball | First Quarter 12/5/2025 pic.twitter.com/aP5uC0pzcm
— Playa Society (@Playa_Society) December 1, 2025
Esther, you have grown in your your name and your brand has become so synonymous with the excellence of women’s basketball. What does it mean to you when you have people like Gina and all these brands want to work with you?
Esther Wallace: I mean, honestly, it’s it’s humbling. It’s definitely special. It’s exciting. I think for me, every opportunity, is that. It’s an opportunity, and I definitely take, a lot of pride in being able to or the responsibility to deliver on something like that. You know, when Gina puts that trust in me, I want to show up and show out. So I take that opportunity, but I also kind of look at it as I have to deliver on this. So it’s really fun. It’s really exciting to be able to kind of, challenge myself in these ways. These are big, big opportunities, big chances, big projects, big promotions, and I’m just really excited to be able to be a part of them. And my goal is always just to do justice to the storytelling that we’re looking to do, for sure.
We’re talking about big brands, and, you are working with the WNBA. Everyone around the WNBA is always wearing your stuff and, you’re a partner of the WNBA. Can you give a little background on how it came to be that you work so closely with the league?
Esther Wallace: It’s all rooted in the players, and, I mean, I always say, Playa Society is a player first brand, which should be obvious from the name. But I started with one T-shirt design, and, that T-shirt I was gifting out to a lot of players in the WNBA and the NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League), and they were just organically supportive of the mission and the message and all of those things before there was any merch in this space at all. And so, I’ve just always aligned storytelling that’s going to center the women who play sports and their fans. And I think it’s just, it comes down to being authentic and organic in that way. That has led to opportunities to work with the WNBA and just continuing to fight for putting them at the forefront of everything that we do, just because I know how important that is. And I remember what things looked like before this time, right, when that wasn’t happening. And so that’s what drives me and motivates all the things that we’re doing, and I think that you’re seeing the results of just pushing forward on that path.
The new drop on the streets of Portland 🥀
— Portland Fire (@theportlandfire) November 26, 2025
Shop the new Fire x Playa Society merch - available now!
🔗: https://t.co/3t1DAk5td5 pic.twitter.com/cmRwAe2TCK
So, essentially, the players are your muse?
Esther Wallace: Exactly.
How do you come up with players to design or players to sketch outside of blowing up your Twitter?
Esther Wallace: Twitter is first. But, honestly, man, it seems like there’s never enough time to get to everybody. But, you know, sometimes it’s interaction. Sometimes I’ll meet a player that I haven’t met before, and I’m like, I gotta get in my sketchbook and start sketching this person. So sometimes it’s the moment. It’s the energy. It’s the momentum. It’s different experiences. It really is a lived process, a lived experience, to deliver on. I have a long list, and sometimes I look at it like, I don’t know how I’m gonna get to everybody. But, you know, I think, the community keeps me motivated to keep chipping away at that list until I can get every player in the league or, you know, every request, that comes my way.
When you see coaches and media and teams and, I mean, television shows, I’ve seen your stuff on The Chi. Has it really sunk in yet when you see so many people supporting your brand?
Esther Wallace: It has, but I’m also that person that’s gonna keep sprinting, like, keep going, because I always feel like I never wanna be complacent in any way. But I appreciate [and] I still get geeked out every single time I see a player wear Playa Society for their tunnel fit or even if they’re just, you know, posting to their stories and they’re taking out their trash or they’re getting groceries or whatever they’re doing. But I get really excited every single time a player wears something. And, again, it just serves as motivation. That’s what has always kept me going because entrepreneurship is by no means easy. So I use it as momentum. I use it as fuel. And that’s really the beauty of it, I think. When I say we’re rooted in the players, it really is that deep.
You gotta have some favorite collabs or designs or merch that you’ve done. So what are your faves? Give us three.
Esther Wallace: Well, I have to say Love & Basketball. I will always start by saying that my favorite is usually the thing I just did, because I love to make new things, and I feel like we’re constantly evolving. But definitely Love & Basketball.
You know I love my Sheryl Swoopes tee. That has a special place in my heart forever.
And then I feel like I’m gonna forget something. But I’ll say, the 2024 A’ja Wilson MVP. I feel like that was just a moment where I saw myself evolve a little bit as an artist, with the details that I was able to get. That was just a wild year for A’ja. I mean, she always has a wild year. Let’s be honest. But I was just excited to be able to create something dope.
Can you speak a little bit more about when you said you were able to evolve as an artist? What did that entail?
Esther Wallace: Yeah. I mean, when I first started, I was actually nervous to put out my sketches because I didn’t, you know, I’m hard on myself. So wanting to make sure that they’re good enough, wanting to make sure that I’m representing the players well, their likeness and all of those things. And so, I also had to kind of teach myself this process. I had never sketched digitally before on an iPad. I hadn’t really sketched at all since I was an undergrad. And so it was a huge process to kind of learn how to get the likeness right and learn how to do digital sketches. And when I first started, I only did sketches that were one color, and then I evolved and was able to start adding skin tones and color to the sketches. And then, they just have become more realistic and more to the likeness of the players. And so, I definitely think that the 2024 A’ja MVP was like, wow. Like, this is A’ja.
U’NANIMOUS!!! Been waiting on this…you know we got you with the A’ja Wilson M’VP drop later today… #PSsketchdiary pic.twitter.com/FyOYJlGu7f
— Playa Society (@Playa_Society) September 22, 2024
You mentioned entrepreneurship not being easy earlier. What’s the hardest part of your job? Is it that?
Esther Wallace: The hardest part is the job itself. I will say it’s because, you know, especially as a creative who’s an entrepreneur, you have to kind of switch between left brain, right brain, right brain, left brain. You’re always switching back and forth a bit.
When you’re passionate about anything and you’re building it, sometimes, like, especially early on, you’re the one who cares the most. And so you have to kind of get other people to buy in and get other people to pay attention to the details and care as much as you do and love the projects that you’re working on. And you have to find those people to work with and surround yourself with that and sometimes convince people, you know, that, hey, this business or this licensing deal is gonna work out even when there’s no examples.
So there’s a lot of layers to it. It’s evolved over time as well.
You know, early on, I was trying to pitch an idea that nobody believed in, and now people believe in it. And it’s how do we grow and how do we sustain that authenticity and keep centering the players and keep the players first and keep responding to the fans and all of those things in the way that we always originally established.
