Donovan Mitchell: The "Spida" Suit
Last night were the ESPY Awards, short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, and we couldn’t have been more excited. Not because of the awards themselves, but because the Anastasia Chatzka brand made a surprise appearance! There were some great outfits, but Donovan Mitchell’s “Spida-Suit” definitely stood out from the crowd.
Mitchell played his rookie season as the shooting guard for Utah’s NBA team, the Jazz, and ended up choosing the Spiderman-themed suit as a tribute to his nickname “Spida” which has followed him all the way since his childhood. Playing basketball as a kid, his favorite thing to do was dunk. One teammate’s dad called him “Spida” because he had long arms and was quick to steal the ball from the other team. In addition, his favorite movie growing up was Spiderman. The name stuck with him ever since and “Spida” Mitchell, as well as the NBA community, has embraced it. He receives spider-themed gear, such as shoes and bags, and now, he has a spider suit.
We were super excited to start the project after designer Adriaen Black came into the store with a custom Adriaen Black suit for Mitchell’s ESPYs appearance and explained what he wanted: spider webs and a spider added to the suit. Lia, one of Anastasia’s design interns, was in charge of the project. She used grosgrain ribbon and the Husqvarna Viking machine’s embroidering abilities to create and attach the design. After 5 days of work, the suit was done.
At the awards show, Mitchell looked amazing on the red carpet and on the stage when he went up to accept his award for Best Breakthrough Athlete. Other winners of this award include LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Blake Griffin, and Jeremy Lin. The award was presented by football player Odell Beckham Jr., a wide receiver for the New York Giants.
We're wishing luck to Donovan Mitchell and his team in their next season, and hoping that we can work with him again!
Written by Miranda Marnik-Said
Pictures from Willy Sanjuan, Invision and Phil McCarten, Invision
