Pete Crow-Armstrong is ready to raise his fashion profile.
The centerfielder for the Chicago Cubs, affectionately known as PCA, will be making his first appearance at Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Atlanta. And with that comes a whole new world for the 25-year-old California native.
“This will be my first red carpet,” he said of the Instagram-ready event that will be held the afternoon before the game at The Battery Atlanta.
Although he said he loves clothes, Crow-Armstrong acknowledges that when it comes to fashion, “I’m still immature.
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“I wear a lot of Adidas because I’m under contract with them for baseball,” he said. “But I love Chrome Hearts. I don’t have the money to buy a ton of that yet, but I think it’s one of the coolest brands.” He’s also a fan of Fear of God and recently discovered KidSuper.
So when MLB and his agent offered to connect him with a stylist to get him fashion-ready for the All-Star Game festivities, he jumped at the chance. Although the league doesn’t employ a fashion editor directly, it works to connect sports-specific stylists with players for high-profile events. In the case of Crow-Armstrong, he was set up with Kesha McLeod, a creative director, author and stylist who has worked with everyone from Serena Williams and NBA star P.J. Tucker to the NFL’s Deebo Samuel over the course of her 20-plus-year career.
“He’s the quintessential client,” McLeod said. Not only is he easy to fit with his 6-foot, 184-pound frame, but he’s also a risk-taker, known to dye his hair blue or cut star patterns into it.
During their initial conversations, McLeod first asked about his favorite brands, which also include Acne and Kith, as well as his style icons — the NBA’s Devin Booker, the NFL’s Ray-Ray McCloud and her client P.J. Tucker among them. That led her to start calling in pieces she thinks will be a fit, including Amiri, Diesel, Lemaire, Helmut Lang, Issey Miyake, Isabel Marant, KidSuper and Enfants Riches Deprimes in apparel, along with Zenith watches and David Yurman jewelry.
“I was excited to pull runway looks for him for the red carpet and surrounding events,” she said. “This is my chance to introduce him to something new. And I want to make sure he has watches and jewelry for every look.”
Although their first meetings were virtual, McLeod flew to Atlanta and they met on Saturday to finalize the looks.
Crow-Armstrong said in general he thinks he dresses “pretty well, but I still have days when I’m lazy.” He tends to lean toward “dressed-down outfits,” and is partial to “baggy” looks, something he knew wasn’t going to cut it for a red carpet. “I know that’s hard to accomplish for a good suit look,” he said. But don’t expect a necktie. “I’m definitely not a tie guy,” he said.
He realizes that his physique allows him to have an easy time finding clothes, but he still tends to “go big rather than small. My only problem is my thigh area. I have big thighs, so I don’t like skinny clothes.”
And his hair? Will he be dyeing it to match the outfit? Crow-Armstrong laughed: “It’s all natural — the curls are coming back. I’m going to keep it normal for my first All-Star Game.”
Although he’s enjoying his new foray into fashion, he said not to expect him to be dressed to the nines for the whole season. Although he admires the tunnel fits that the NBA players have embraced, he doesn’t think it’s realistic for baseball players to follow in their footsteps. “We play 162 games — the NBA also plays a lot of games, but only half as many as our season. So it’s hard for us to have a big enough repertoire, and we’re on the road so much. Certain guys, like Francisco Lindor, can pull it off, but it’s hard for the rest of us.”
Even so, after working with a stylist for the first time, who knows where it may lead. For McLeod, she’s confident that this experience is just the start of Crow-Armstrong’s fashion journey. “You might see he and I in Paris and Milan next season,” she said.
