Candace Parker’s Gucci Moment Stole the Show at Fanatics Fest 2026
WNBA star Candace Parker's head-to-toe Gucci look at Fanatics Fest 2026 stopped Here. For. It. cold—plus Jay-Z, Shaq, Messi and Karl-Anthony Towns sightings
Key Takeaways
- WNBA legend Candace Parker went viral for rocking head-to-toe Gucci at Fanatics Fest.
- Woman's World launched "Here. For. It.," a new unfiltered celebrity pop culture series.
- Fanatics Fest featured wild cameos from Jay-Z, Shaq, Tom Brady, and Lionel Messi.
If you spent any part of the weekend scrolling and suddenly stopped because a woman in head-to-toe Gucci walked past a camera at what looked like the world’s most chaotic sports convention—same. That was WNBA legend Candace Parker at Fanatics Fest 2026, and yes, we absolutely need to talk about it.
The whole moment was captured for Here. For. It., a new vertical video series hosted by well-known creators from all corners of culture, focusing on best-of moments at the biggest events of the year from the POV of the fans. And it just launched at Fanatics Fest with creator Leigh Soriano (@oldfashonedhussle) as our woman on the inside. If you have not started following along yet, consider this your official invitation. It is like getting a text from your funniest friend who somehow got press credentials to every event you actually care about.
The Gucci moment heard round the group chat
Here is how it went down. Leigh is roaming the convention floor, we are all along for the ride, and then—a sighting. “Oh my god, is that Candace Parker?” Yes. Yes it was.
Leigh does what any of us would do if we had the guts, which is walk right up and ask the question every fashion-obsessed viewer at home was already yelling at their phone: “Ms. Parker, we got to know where the fit’s from!”
Candace, without missing a beat, delivers one word: “Gucci.”
And that was it. That was the whole exchange. One word, said with the confidence of a woman who knows exactly what she is wearing and does not need to explain herself.
Wait, catch me up on Candace Parker’s life real quick
If you have not checked in on Candace lately, she is thriving. She and her wife, Anna Petrakova, welcomed their son Hartt Summitt Petrakov Parker on May 21, 2024, and yes, the middle name is a tribute to Candace’s late college coach Pat Summitt, according to Us Weekly. Bring tissues.
Hartt is the couple’s second baby together—they welcomed son Airr Larry in February 2022—and Candace is also mom to daughter Lailaa, 14. So when I say she showed up to Fanatics Fest in Gucci looking like that, understand that this is a woman running a full lineup at home. If she can do all that and still slay a convention floor, I can probably manage my Costco run this weekend.
The rest of the celebrity chaos, ranked in order of “wait, who?”
The Candace moment was the peak, but the whole video is a masterclass in unhinged celebrity spotting. In roughly 42 seconds of runtime, Leigh clocks: Jay-Z (screamed at as “HOV, let me hold a dollar,” which, iconic), IShowSpeed (whom she calls before he even takes his penalty kick—she said $200, aces it first try, and he did, so we are officially trusting Leigh’s sports takes now), Shaquille O’Neal, James Harden and Karl-Anthony Towns, who gave her a dap up like they were old friends.
Leigh’s aside about KAT after the fact? “He dapped me up earlier. His hands are big as hell.” This is the kind of information I did not know I needed and will now think about at random intervals for the next six months. Tell your daughters. Tell your friends. Someone had to say it.
Speaking of Karl-Anthony Towns, he is having a Fanatics Fest for the ages. He also apparently had to step between Tom Brady and Logan Paul after Brady slapped Paul across the face during a live appearance at the event, per Us Weekly.
Even Lionel Messi showed up (with the wildest backstory)
If you thought the sports-and-celebrity crossover could not get more surreal, Lionel Messi held a press conference at Fanatics Fest on Friday, July 17, to address that viral 19-year-old photo of him bathing baby Lamine Yamal—yes, THAT Lamine Yamal, the 19-year-old Spanish soccer phenom he is about to face in the 2026 World Cup final on Sunday, July 19.
“Honestly, looking at that photo is crazy,” Messi, 39, said in Spanish at the presser, Us Weekly reports. “Well, that’s life, right?”
Life is absolutely wild, sir. Please continue.
The photo, originally taken in 2007 by photographer Joan Monfort as part of a UNICEF raffle, shows a very young Messi giving baby Yamal a literal bath at an FC Barcelona shoot. Fast-forward almost two decades and they are meeting on the biggest stage in soccer. Even Monfort admitted he cannot pick a side: “My heart is split. I don’t know if I want Messi or Yamal to win.”
Why Here. For. It. is going to run your feed all year
If you are wondering how a random sports convention became this level of pop culture chaos, welcome to the Here. For. It. The series is set to cover every major cultural moment of 2026—the Met Gala, Golden Globes, Grammys, Oscars, Coachella, NBA All-Star Weekend, the ESPYs, the Emmys, the US Open, fashion weeks in New York, Milan and Paris—you name it, she will be there.
Follow along on Woman’s World’s Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts, follow Leigh directly at @oldfashonedhussle, and pull up on Us Weekly‘s socials too. It is only Day 2 at Fanatics Fest and we are not okay—but we would not change a thing.
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