Fashion

Looking Back at Slam-Dunk Knicks Courtside Style Over the Years

In honor of the Knicks heading to the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years, we took a look back at some standout courtside moments—and ’fits—over the years.

By Elliot O·May 26, 2026·2 min read
Looking Back at Slam-Dunk Knicks Courtside Style Over the Years

Reported by Vogue.

Madison Square Garden's courtside seats have always functioned as an unofficial runway — one where the dress code is nominally blue and orange but the actual aesthetic ranges from downtown cool to full fashion-week theatrics. With the Knicks heading to the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years, there's never been a better moment to revisit the style archive that's been quietly accumulating in those front-row chairs.

According to Vogue, the early 2000s alone could fill a trend retrospective. Hilary Swank showed up in a dress-over-pants situation that felt ahead of its time — or deeply of its time, depending on your nostalgia threshold. Beyoncé tucked her jeans into slouchy boots with the kind of effortlessness that made it look inevitable. Meanwhile, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen — pre-The Row, but very much already building the mythology — cheered loudly enough that their stacked bangles clanged with every clap. Even Paris Hilton materialized courtside in a denim mini, because of course she did.

The Court Doesn't Lie

Then came the 2010s, and the seats got a different kind of starry. Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, and Zendaya each made appearances that now serve as an unintentional time capsule of the decade's obsessions: neons, pleather leggings, chokers worn without irony. Alexa Chung offered the counterpoint — a studied indifference to sportswear that made her the most stylish person in the building precisely because she looked like she'd wandered in from somewhere else entirely.

Through all of it, Chloë Sevigny has remained the constant — a genuine Knicks fan whose courtside looks have cycled through knee socks, leopard-print flares, a Cannes Festival cap from 2009, and actual team merch worn without a trace of irony. She's also the only person who has ever shared a row with DJ Pauly D and made it feel completely logical.

Courtside has always been about visibility — the seats exist at the intersection of sport, celebrity, and spectacle — but the fashion has never been incidental. It's a front row where the audience is also the show, and after 27 years, the Knicks are finally giving everyone a reason to dress up again.


Read the original at Vogue.

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