Interview: PLAYERS Editor-in-Chief Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld
The founder of the new sports-fashion bible speaks exclusively to SportsVerse on the print magazine's business model and future beyond Issue 1, which launches in June.
Hi friends! Welcome back to SportsVerse, my twice-weekly newsletter that tells stories you can't find anywhere else about the intersection of sports, fashion, business, and culture. Powered by OffBall.
As I mentioned in Tuesday’s newsletter, another project I’ve had the pleasure of working on this year is the inaugural issue PLAYERS magazine, a bi-annual print publication set to bring a crucial style perspective to the intersection of sport and fashion.
Over the past few years, there has been a resurgence in print publishing, and some of that has focused on this subject area (although OG publications like Felicia Pennant’s Season zine have been covering sports and fashion for years).
Players has been getting a lot of attention as it gets closer to launch, and rightly so. There’s a lot to like about the first issue, including but not limited to:
Dwyane Wade — yes, that Dwyane Wade — is the guest editor of Issue 1;
He also made for a great cover star;
A Spike Lee cover story shot by legendary fashion photographer Mario Sorrenti;
An incredible cover story featuring WNBA star and tunnel walk star, Cameron Brink;
A NY Liberty cover story written by Robert Cordero and me;
Unreleased archive footage of Michael Jordan;
Deep dives on the evolution of basketball playing styles, fashion and culture;
A photographic exploration of Egyptian basketball culture, by Dexter Navy.
I was inundated with queries about the upcoming Issue 1 after mentioning it in Tuesday’s newsletter. I thought there would be no better way than to speak to the man behind it all, Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, founder and editor-in-chief of Players.
I first met Vlad in New York last year when he was in the process of assembling the dream team that is Players editorial, where he shared his vision for the publication.
I caught up with him again yesterday to discuss his thoughts on Issue 1, the future of Players, the publication’s business model and how he managed to get Dwyane Wade on board.
Enjoy!
DYM: What was the initial idea that sparked the creation of Players magazine?
Vlad: It was my passion for sports. I’ve been obsessed with sports since I was five or six years old, when my father, who was a season ticket holder at Parc des Princes (Paris Saint-Germain’s home ground) since 1972 took me to my first football (soccer) match. I also didn’t miss a game until I moved to the US for college in 2002.
My heroes were football players, but I also quickly started to love other sports like running, tennis and swimming, and when I got a bit older, I started doing a lot of marathons and triathlons.
The other side of my life was very fashion focused, especially growing up with [legendary fashion editor] Carine [Roitfeld] as my mother, I was absorbed in this world and always knew that this was the direction I wanted to take in life. I believe that my sensitivity for the two worlds allowed me to see a gap in the market for many years now. Ss soon as the timing was right, I decided to start bringing Players to life.
How did you convince Dwyane Wade to join the team for the inaugural issue?
Dwyane is a basketball legend, but he has also been an innovator in transitioning post post-playing career into the fashion industry.
I had watched Dwyane on the court for years, but I had also seen him becoming more and more a part of the fashion industry.
We really wanted to work with someone that had the legitimacy in both worlds —Dwyane was a natural choice.
When we decided to launch Players, Dwyane was our first choice to guest edit the magazine because we knew that he would speak to both audiences.
We reached out to his team last summer as we wanted to establish a relationship with him for the last issue of CR Men’s (Fall 2025) for which he was the cover star. From there on we were able to present the idea of Players to him, and he agreed to take on a bigger role for the launch issue.
What can readers expect from Players Issue 1, and what were the shoots or stories that particularly excited you (and that you’d like to share)?
The goal is for Players to be followed by both sports and fashion lovers.
We have it together an extraordinary editorial and creative team with the intent to have a really strong and credible editorial vision, telling sports stories in a very relevant way, as well as a creative team to creating ground-breaking fashion images as we already do for CR.
When can people expect to buy their copy?
In the second half of June.
With the resurgence of print media, how did you plan for Players to differentiate itself from the competition (for instance, by offering a higher price point, strategic distribution, or positioning the magazine as a collectible)?
All of the above is key, and we are working actively on that; this is our first issue, but we will develop gradually.
There has been an incredible amount of enthusiasm and opportunities are rising daily for us. We will need to take it one step at a time, but we have incredible hopes for the future. We can feel that we have tapped into something that feels both relevant to today’s readers and exciting for our fashion audiences.
How do you intend to incorporate Players experiences into real-life activations to maintain momentum?
Sports activations are basically happening all year round; we want to become a media partner for brands that have an involvement in these tournaments. For example, we developed a bespoke zine for Lacoste — a fashion story shot at Roland Garros [the home of the French Open in Paris]. The zine will be distributed to all fans during the two weeks of the tournament. We are also organizing to bring our guests to attend one evening match session next week at Roland Garros in partnership with Lacoste.
For the rest, we will keep it confidential for now.
There are numerous avenues for Players beyond Issue 1. What types of opportunities excite you the most for future exploration?
Aside from the print component, which I love, the idea of year-round partnership working on projects with specific brands and sports event activations.
But also, I want to continue developing Players as a brand. That includes product collaborations, drops, e-comm, podcasts, and more.
A big thanks to Vlad for speaking to SportsVerse today. Be sure to look out for Players on newsstands near you in June!
That’s all for today, friends. Thanks for coming along for the ride.
See you next time,
DYM