New Blog Post: Fatherhood and fashion: Dwyane Wade talks

It's quite a day for Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade.

His new book, A Father First: How My Life Became Bigger Than Basketball, is out today, and he has teamed up with Gilt, the fashion web site which provides access to designer labels at discount prices.

Both topics are near and dear to Wade's mind and heart. There's no doubt he loves fashion. He can pull of the pink pants. He can wear the hipster glasses several NBA players love to wear.

For Gilt, Wade picked out some of his favorite fashion accessories. Wade talked to Gilt about his fashion sense.

"If you're a young guy coming into the league, this is a perfect time," Wade said. "If you're a guy who's edgy, or likes to be a little different, you don't have to put that to the side. When it comes to playing with colors and pushing the envelope, I think I paved the way for that, but this is a perfect time. Fashion and being an athlete come hand in hand now. They're lucky, because when I came in the league, it was black, gray, and maybe another color here and there, and some stripes, but it really wasn't going and doing risky things."

Wade is also proud of his new book, which details his role as father to his two sons, Zaire, 10, and Zion, 5. Wade won sole custody of his two kids in 2011 (it was a bitter battle) and documented in the book how important that decision was to his life.

"I just wanted to tell, in my own words, why I think being a father first is the most important thing to me," Wade said. "It goes back to my childhood, and the way things did or didn't go. I just thought for the first time I would share those personal experiences, and hopefully help someone look at things in a different way. Not saying I have the perfect way of parenting, but maybe look at things in a different way.

"First of all, you never think you could love somebody this much. Every day you wake up with this person on your mind, and every day before you go to sleep they're the last thing on your mind. Living in Miami, and playing in the NBA, it's a fast life. Everything moves fast, and my kids kind of slow things down. Becoming a dad matured me. I was already a mature kid, but it matured me a little faster as an adult—to be ready for the responsibilities of being a father."

And of course, Wade intentionally or not mixes fashion with his sons.

"I think I've created some little monsters, even with socks. My kids, they'll be wearing my socks. I'll be having conversations with them, "You cannot be wearing my socks. I bought you your own socks." They like to wear colorful socks like dad, and it's a big conversation we have. They're like, "but yours are cooler, you have more." It's this whole thing. When it's time to go to certain events, they have their ways that they like to dress. I enjoy it, I laugh, I love it, but I'm going to have to work a little bit harder because it's going to become expensive."

His new book, A Father First: How My Life Became Bigger Than Basketball, is out today, and he has teamed up with Gilt, the fashion web site which provides access to designer labels at discount prices.
 Both topics are near and dear to Wade's mind and heart. There's no doubt he loves fashion. He can rock pink pants. He can wear the hipster glasses several NBA players love to wear.
For Gilt Man, Wade picked out some of his favorite fashion accessories. Wade talked to Gilt about his fashion sense.


"If you're a young guy coming into the league, this is a perfect time," Wade told Gilt Man. "If you're a guy who's edgy, or likes to be a little different, you don't have to put that to the side. When it comes to playing with colors and pushing the envelope, I think I paved the way for that, but this is a perfect time. Fashion and being an athlete come hand in hand now. They're lucky, because when I came in the league, it was black, gray, and maybe another color here and there, and some stripes, but it really wasn't going and doing risky things."
Wade is also proud of his new book, which details his role as father to his two sons, Zaire, 10, and Zion, 5. Wade won sole custody of his two kids in 2011 (it was a bitter battle) and documented in the book how important that decision was and is to his life.
"I just wanted to tell, in my own words, why I think being a father first is the most important thing to me," Wade said. "It goes back to my childhood, and the way things did or didn't go. I just thought for the first time I would share those personal experiences, and hopefully help someone look at things in a different way. Not saying I have the perfect way of parenting, but maybe look at things in a different way.
"First of all, you never think you could love somebody this much. Every day you wake up with this person on your mind, and every day before you go to sleep they're the last thing on your mind. Living in Miami, and playing in the NBA, it's a fast life. Everything moves fast, and my kids slow things down. Becoming a dad matured me. I was already a mature kid, but it matured me a little faster as an adult — to be ready for the responsibilities of being a father."
And of course, Wade intentionally or not mixes fashion with his sons.
"I think I've created some little monsters, even with socks," he said. "My kids, they'll be wearing my socks. I'll be having conversations with them, 'You cannot be wearing my socks. I bought you your own socks.' They like to wear colorful socks like dad, and it's a big conversation we have. They're like, 'But yours are cooler, you have more.' It's this whole thing. When it's time to go to certain events, they have their ways that they like to dress. I enjoy it, I laugh, I love it, but I'm going to have to work a little bit harder because it's going to become expensive."