Egor Dëmin Details His Expanded Wardrobe From His Rookie Season in Brooklyn
The saturated blues of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The bronze weathering of the Brooklyn Bridge in the Borough of Kings. There are glaring differences and similarities. But in the eyes of Egor Dëmin, they are both one. No, literally—the Russian guard has two different pupil colors, just one of the many things that make him unique.
“I’m really into what I do beyond basketball—hobbies, things like that,” Egor Dëmin, says, standing in a store on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with LeagueFits. The Brooklyn Nets rookie has made it his mission to build a plethora of hobbies, skills and interests, and at the young age of 20, he already has a blueprint for what’s expected to be a long, successful career, and not just on the court. And it helps that he’s made a new home in New York, one of the world’s fashion capitals.
“[Fashion inspiration] is almost like music for me—I don’t stick to just one thing,” he says. “I see stuff that inspires me and I think, Oh, I like that, and I build from there.”
Egor was born and raised in Moscow, Russia, and played a crucial role for Real Madrid’s basketball club in Spain where he impressed recruiters in the US. He ultimately committed to play for BYU, leading the Cougars to the Sweet Sixteen in the 2024-25 NCAA tournament and then being selected 8th overall in the 2025 Draft. During his rookie season on a rebuilding Nets team, he averaged 10.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg and 3.3 apg.
Aside from the athletic part of his job, Egor has quickly adapted to the heart of modern sports fashion: the tunnel.
Dëmin says that his year spent in Utah has been one of the main influences behind his style, from western-esque boots to the country music that has made its way onto his playlist. And when his leisure time allows, he’s always up for horse riding. “I’m basically a cowboy,” he laughs. It’s just one of the many personalities expressed through his sense of style.
“I’m really big on materials and how something physically looks,” he says when asked about the inspiration behind his style. “And I’d say I really like minimalistic stuff. Like a Devin Booker-type of approach—super clean and casual. But I also like pieces that are more unique and have a pop to them. So it’s colors combined with minimalism. I’m not sticking to one thing.”
“I do like some goofy shoes…goofy clothes, [too]. I like it, bro.” He uses the word to describe the sky-blue ERL Foam Vamp sneaker and Bruce Pocket Tee that he spots at both ESSX and E3RD in NYC. It’s a fascinating word choice to explain the impractical yet exciting silhouettes of certain pieces that he’s not afraid to rock in his pre-game tunnel walk. Egor has been able to develop a range of style that most rookies don’t develop until the later stages of their careers, proving why he’s in contention to join the likes of Jared McCain, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama in winning the LeagueFits Rookie of the Year award.
Adaptation is the name of the game, and not many would understand that quite as well as Egor after making the move from calm, level-landed Provo, Utah to the contrasting and distinctive Brooklyn, NY. “It’s been one of the main things for me—learning new cultures, meeting new people, picking up languages.” It’s a quality that extends into the locker room, where veteran teammate Nic Claxton has become one of his closest references in tunnel culture. “[Nic is] tall, super lean, and he wears these really long silhouettes—full black, elongated pieces. He looks like a rock star, genuinely.”
When asked about his chances for LeagueFits Rookie of the Year, Egor is calm. He says it’s one of his off-court goals for the end of the season. “I think I have a pretty good case, and [LeagueFits] All-Rookie for sure. No doubt.”
Portraits by Luca Mesiti. Photos via Getty Images.
