New York Knicks fans started lining up at 2:30 a.m. to catch a glimpse of their favorite NBA star at the championship parade on June 18. I would've done the same if I was a New Yorker, but only for NYC's First Lady, Rama Duwaji. Mayor Zohran Mamdani's wife instantly became my style MVP when she debuted a parade outfit made of Knicks T-shirts.
Duwaji's husband rode the entire one-mile route on an open-top bus, before reuniting with his wife in front of City Hall. They matched each other's energy in the team's signature shades, but the activist tapped 2026 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist Miss Claire Sullivan for something custom. Now that's what I call committed.
The New York City designer upcycled a T-shirt dress of Knicks fans' dreams from white, cobalt blue, and orange graphic tees. Each NBA Finals-branded top looked fresh from a local merch stand, but the silhouette they created in tandem was one-of-a-kind.
It all started as a one-shoulder bodice, before Sullivan stitched blue-and-orange tees together to make an asymmetrical mini skirt. Duwaji draped the makeshift hemline over a black, crinkle-effect balloon skirt. The midi's calf-sweeping hemline promised her freaky It shoes weren't hidden.
It seems she stacked matching crew socks into Maison Margiela's cult-collected Tabi Mary Janes. Perhaps she was inspired by fellow Knicks fan Kylie Jenner, who pedaled a Manhattan Citi Bike in split-toe ballet flats on championship parade eve.
For one final slam dunk, Duwaji coupled her signature gold necklace stack with spiky, basketball-shaped stud earrings.
Fashion girls know Duwaji keeps a close eye on emerging fashion designers. Last November, while Mamdani delivered his victory speech, she stood beside him in a laser-cut denim top from Zeid Hijazi, a Palestinian-Jordanian designer based in London. It's no surprise she sourced one of Sullivan's newest creations, which debuted on Instagram just days after the Knicks defeated the Spurs in Game 5.
Sullivan told Vogue she was inspired by the Knicks gear turning the city's street style scene blue and orange. "My entire family is from New York, but have all since moved away, and everyone was texting me about wanting Knicks shirts,” she said.
Her friends helped her track them down, which wasn't easy over the weekend the team ended its 53-year championship drought. "When I saw how many colors there were, I was inspired to get one in every color and turn them into a dress.”
Sullivan originally sculpted the T-shirt dress over a pancake tutu, which featured pops of gingham and polka-dot prints. Turning theatrical tutus into streetwear is quickly becoming one of her house codes. (Addison Rae, Lady Gaga, and Rosalía are making them a pop star rite of passage for 2026 performances.)
She even wore the graphic tee and tutu combination to celebrate the Knicks' win last Saturday, June 13. Less than a week later, Sullivan had a sisterhood of the traveling Knicks merch moment with the first lady of New York City.
Rama Duwaji's T-shirt dress marked Miss Claire Sullivan's first foray from pop star to politician styling. In recent years, her designs have been spotted on Doechii, Rihanna, Dua Lipa, Ice Spice, PinkPantheress, Camila Cabello, and more. New York royalty like Sarah Jessica Parker and Chloë Sevigny also joined her celebrity clientele.
But dressing Duwaji introduced a whole new audience to Sullivan's empire. "I can’t express how much of an honor it is to dress the first lady of New York City,” she told Vogue. “I respect Rama so much. She's an incredible artist with so much grace and dignity. I could not be more proud of our city and everyone representing it right now.” Sullivan took the words right out of my mouth.
