Russell Westbrook Dyed His Hair to Match His Met Gala Tux

The suit is a dark dusty navy, and he decided to go sockless, with velvet loafers—at once “very Ralph,” in the brand’s parlance, and very Russell. (Blue, Westbrook added, is his favorite color.) Never one to go halfway, Westbrook dyed his hair to coordinate with the tux. “When I showed up to the [first] fitting, my hair was like a copper brown color, and then I saw the suit,” he said. “And I was like, Mm, I have an idea!”

Though he’s used to having millions of eyes trained on him—and myriad social media accounts tracking his every outfit off the court—he said the Met Gala red carpet requires a totally different set of considerations than the tunnel fit. “It’s about a hundred more cameras,” he laughed. There were other adjustments to make, too. The walk, for instance—totally different than the way you enter the arena. “It’s more of a nice stroll,” he said, “You gotta have your stance together—how you want to stand, how you want to look, how you want your clothes to lay. During the season, you walk in [and it’s] game on, not really paying much mind. But on the red carpet, you’re real conscious of how you’re standing, how you’re looking, how your clothes are looking on you.”