Whether it’s signature sneakers for women basketball players, boots for women soccer players, or in other sports, there are few professional women athletes who can call a signature shoe their own. Rather, female designers or artists get a shoe named after them. Basketball player Breanna Stewart got her own signature shoe from Puma in 2021. She is a multiple MVP, multiple WNBA champion, Olympic gold medalist and two-time world champion.
Now she’s partnering with eBay for the Trailblazer collection, “Together with Breanna Stewart and [designer] Vashtie Kola, we’re unveiling an unprecedented collection to spotlight trailblazing women and the iconic kicks that wouldn’t exist without them.” On a dedicated landing page, eBay is showcasing “a retrospective featuring the kicks and women who’ve impacted sneaker culture.” Interested shoppers can buy the styles directly, including those from private auctions.
Signature shoes for women have been around for a long time in a variety of sports, yet not many women have been given this honor. Among the first was Billie Jean King, who was the first female tennis player to receive a signature sneaker from Adidas in the early 1970s. Cara-Beth Burnside became the first female skater to earn her first pro model, the CB Line, from Vans in 1997.
Two years earlier, in 1995, it was Sheryl Swoopes who wore the Nike Air Swoopes, the first signature shoe in the WNBA. “I recognized how Sheryl’s shoe really impacted the lives of young girls and boys. It was amazing. To be able to say that I was one of a few women that had my own shoe, and it was a women’s version, as well as a men’s version. It was awesome. I can’t even put it into words,” Nikki McCray, two-time Olympic gold medalist and multiple WNBA All-Star, told andscape.
However, since then, Stewart has become only the tenth female basketball player to receive a signature sneaker through her deal with Puma.
