• by Sarah Mahoney , July 27, 2026

As the WNBA All-Star Weekend continues to build its cultural cachet, JCPenney is looking to take a courtside seat. For the occasion, the retailer is sending its Inside Lane team  -- WNBA players Audi Crooks, Gabriela Jaquez, Jackie Young, KK Arnold, and Stef Dolson -- on a special mission. Before the game, each of them is sharing style secrets with one young player from the Girls Club of America, helping them find their perfect gameday look at JCPenney.

The move offers the chance for the brand to work with one of its store's key charity partners, the Boys and Girls Club of America. But it's is also a way to reinforce the store's commitment to democratizing fashion, said Marisa Thalberg, chief customer and CMO of Catalyst Brands, which owns the retailer.

"Too often, fashion is elitist and remote," she said. "Access and being in the inside lane -- that always feels like you need to buy your way there, the way people buy their way to the front of the line or to the front row of a WNBA or NBA game. But the reality is that in basketball, playing in the inside lane is about being smart and strategic. We think that's a beautiful analogy to shopping at JCPenney."

The Inside Lane team won't just help the girls find their style. They'll also help them get glammed up at a JCPenney salon, followed by a photo session at the department store's portrait studio -- and then head to arena to watch the game in person.

The company chose these five players on the Team -- certainly not the most famous -- precisely for their style sense. They aren't being dressed by stylists and designers, but by their own taste, which Thalberg says is inspirational.

Using a single well-known star is certainly one tactic, and the WNBA's biggest names are landing more every day. But it's a costly one, and besides, she said, "we always like to zig when everyone else is zagging."

And while affordability is always a point of pride for the brand, she said, that's especially so, given the financial pressure Americans are feeling. "For us, it's not about being cheap. It's about having really great deals."

The All-Star Game, landing right in the middle of summer's marketing doldrums, also offers a calendar advantage, even if it isn't as big a fashion moment as, let's say, the Oscars, Grammys or Fashion Week. "Because it's right at the beginning of the back-to-school season, it's very well timed for us," says Thalberg.

Plenty of other brands showed up for the game, too. State Farm, which has been using Caitlin Clark as a brand ambassador since 2023, put on the State Farm Celeb 3-Point Contest, inviting actors Keke Palmer and Issa Rae to take their shot, along with Maya Higa, content creator and conservationist, Olivia Miles, who plays for the Minnesota Lynx, and Allie Clifton, sports journalist.

Dick's Sporting Goods is suiting up in a different way, using the All-Star weekend as the launchpad for the return of  “Life In the W,” the WNBA-focused documentary series created with Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios, the retailer’s in-house content and production studio. The show stars A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx and DeWanna Bonner of the Phoenix Mercury.