tastemakers: deion sanders
By Noah Edelman
3 / 1 / 2024
“What about me would make you think I care about your opinion of me? Your opinion of me is not the opinion that I have of myself. You ain’t make me, so you can’t break me. You didn’t build me, so you can’t kill me. God established me, so ain’t nothing you can do to me. I’ve been him, I’ve been a difference maker, a game changer, I’ve been that guy.”
Deion Sanders is a legend in many ways. The only player ever to play in both a Super Bowl and the World Series. Revitalizing the Jackson State Tigers and Colorado Buffaloes football teams as a coach. One of the most tried and true superstars of all time, he earned every letter of his famous nickname, Prime Time.
Sanders has also often contributed to the worlds of sports and style simultaneously, becoming one of the first professional athletes to truly capitalize on their image. A friend and collaborator of MC Hammer, Sanders often made his success known, letting everyone know through his fashion just how hard he worked to shine this bright. His influence on the fashion landscape extends far beyond the sidelines, as he seamlessly blends style, swagger, and sophistication. As Sanders explains in a recent interview with GQ, “I don’t follow trends—I set them.” Among his signature pieces are bold-patterned jackets, flamboyant suits, flashy gold jewelry, and a plethora of reflective designer sunglasses that are now his calling card in his new coaching job with the University of Colorado football team. Sanders eventually released his own collection of sunglasses, grossing over a million dollars on its first day of sale.
Sanders prided himself on his ability to recontextualize the role of an athlete in American media, especially at a time in the late eighties and nineties when experimental fashion choices were not necessarily warmly welcomed by society. He utilized his colorful outfits and accessories to tell the world that athletes can be more than just jocks—they can be designers, models, trendsetters, and even artists. His embrace of the risks that came with these choices made him even more of a star, and his no-holds barred lifestyle remains alluring for athletes, fashionistas, and businesspeople alike. The power of Sanders’ fashion is inescapable; he leaves a trail of influence wherever he goes. In Boulder, where he took up a coaching job at the University of Colorado last year, his signature sunglasses, suede cowboy hat, and rugged typeface-adorned merchandise have completely taken over.
A glance at a gallery of some of his looks instantly reveals the attention to detail and the unabashed flashiness that now is synonymous with the name Deion Sanders. He even had a custom Mercedes golf cart made to carry him around the Dallas Cowboys training camp. Sanders is known to call plays on the practice field with a gold whistle as well. The glitz and glamor of the Prime Time lifestyle has become the Mount Olympus of sports self-branding, with media outlets now eager to snap pictures of the Colorado players’ iced out watches and luxury cars. If anyone is looking for how to stunt on everyone else, look no further than Deion Sanders.
He was fly before the Wright Brothers, and maintains a mantra for all to see in his office: “If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good. If you play good, they pay good.”