Fashion

Grizzlies star Ja Morant gave a young fan his game-worn jersey and Ja 1 sneakers from Wednesday night's showdown against the Spurs ... after her autographed basketball was sadly stolen Monday night at the FedEx Forum.

Ellie Hughes, an 11-year-old Grizzlies fan, was at the Grizzlies-Spurs game Monday night ... and was trying to get Ja's attention when she laid the signed basketball down.

When Ellie looked back up, the basketball was gone. Ellie has been to every Grizzlies' home game with her grandfather since she was five, and the ball had a ton of sentimental value since she had been collecting signatures from players after games, according to actionnews5.com.

Enter Ja ... the 23-year-old discovered what happened to Ellie and wanted to help make things right for her and her family.

The Hughes family was at FedEx Forum again Wednesday ... and after the game, Morant got some facetime with the youngster, where he gifted her his jersey and sneakers.

“I was trying to get in contact w the fam," Morant said in his postgame interview. "I reached out & offered them two of the courtside seats that I give to my fam & told them after the game I would give my jersey & shoes."

"Definitely a good feeling to have them there supporting us and see that smile on their face at the end," he added.

In addition to the jersey and Ja 1 kicks Ellie received, she also got to watch Morant drop 38 points ... en route to the Grizzlies' 135-129 win over San Antonio.

Dakota Johnson has a new ad campaign with Gucci -- where she's rocking a ton of their gear, including animal skin handbags -- and PETA isn't happy about it ... not at all.

The actress just came out as an official ambassador for the luxury fashion brand, and appeared in a new commercial where she's showing off a ton of their products -- and, of course, there's photoshoots galore where DJ is in all Gucci. So, she's all in.

The problem, according to PETA, is that a couple of these Gucci handbags Dakota's advertising here are made with authentic reptile skins ... specifically, python and crocodile. Gucci isn't hiding it either, as its website touts the fact the hides are the real deal.

That doesn't sit right with the animal rights org -- and it let Dakota know all about it in an informative, yet somewhat scathing, letter to her team.

In the correspondence, obtained by TMZ, PETA takes issue with Gucci's python and crocodile handbags -- ranging from $3,100 to $31k -- being so unabashedly flaunted by Dakota ... which they say is odd, since she's outspoken on a lot of social issues.

They're right, her IG is full of advocacy posts for everything from BLM to women's rights and a lot more.

So, PETA's asking if she cares about the animals that were slaughtered for the bags -- and reminds her poachers and hunters go to extreme lengths to obtain the skins ... including torturing and ripping them to pieces while still alive.

PETA also mentions this tidbit ... "The killing of these snakes is so cruel that in California, it would be illegal to buy the very goods you’re promoting, because their sale is banned."

Gucci even acknowledges that fact on its web pages for a couple of these handbags.

Bottom line ... PETA is asking Dakota to strongly reconsider her association with Gucci and to denounce its use of exotic animal skins, especially with vegan alternatives available.

We tried looking to see if Dakota has spoken out on animal rights issues, specifically, and it sounds like she considers it a righteous cause -- seeing how her famous grandmother, Tippi Hedren, was a huge advocate of animal protection ... and DJ has spoken fondly of her work.

Prince Harry is bringing receipts to back Meghan Markle's claim that it's Kate Middleton who made her cry -- not the other way around -- during an argument about dresses the week of Harry and Meg's wedding.

Harry reportedly shares the 2018 text messages between the duchesses in his new book "Spare" ... saying it started when Kate reached out to Meghan ... complaining about the fit of baby Charlotte's dress for the wedding. According to him, Kate texted, "Charlotte's dress is too big, too long, too baggy. She cried when she tried it on at home."

Apparently, the dress was sewn by hand to specific measurements without fitting ... and Harry explained it definitely rubbed Meghan the wrong way, who -- as you might remember -- had been dealing with a lot of drama with her father staging paparazzi pics.

Prince Harry says Meghan eventually wrote back, "I told you the tailor has been standing by since 8am. Here. At KP [Kensington Palace]. Can you take Charlotte to have it altered, as the other mums are doing?"

He says they went back and forth via text, with Kate insisting all the dresses for the wedding needed to be remade, instead of just getting Charlotte's altered. In one of the texts, Kate allegedly said she'd consulted her own wedding planner about the whole mess!

In the end, Kate agreed to get Charlotte's dress fitted ... but the interaction left his wife sobbing on the floor, 4 days before she walked down the aisle.

You'll recall, Meghan told Oprah this very story, albeit with less detail ... but she denied the widely reported story that it was Meghan who made Kate cry over the dresses.

A Cincinnati store that made custom Damar Hamlin shirts in the wake of the Bills safety's medical crisis tells TMZ Sports it's made $50K off the tees ... and is now planning on donating all of that cash to DH's Chasing M's Foundation.

Cincy Shirts put together three designs after the scary incident on Jan. 2 ... when the 24-year-old collapsed and went into cardiac arrest during the Bills vs. Bengals "Monday Night Football" game.

One shirt reads "More Than Football" with Hamlin's #3 jersey number. Another has Cincinnati's "513" area code on it with Bengals and Bills team colors. The third is a design from a local artist that features the Bengals and Bills mascots wearing No. 3 jerseys.

Cincy Shirts co-owner Josh Sneed tells us the custom pieces are selling like crazy, both in stores and online ... and they're trying hard to keep up with the orders.

Sneed went on to say that all of the proceeds from the shirt sales will be donated to Hamlin's foundation.

"It seems no matter who needs something, this city steps up," Sneed said. "I'm lucky to see this happen time in and time out. Very proud of this city."

Sneed also delivered a box of shirts to Hamlin's family at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and to the Bengals. In fact, cornerback Cameron Taylor-Britt took a selfie wearing one on Thursday.

The NFL is honoring Damar Hamlin this weekend ... making several grand gestures to support the 24-year-old on his road to recovery.

The league announced Friday all 32 teams will be encouraged to read a special message before kickoff as a unified show of solidarity for Hamlin, who remains hospitalized in the ICU.

A scoreboard graphic of Damar will also accompany the pregame tribute.

The Bills, meanwhile, revealed Friday they'll wear "3" jersey patches on their uniforms when they take on the Patriots on Sunday.

Buffalo personnel will also be donning New Era hats with the number "3" embroidered on them during pregame warmups as well.

On top of that, the NFL will allow teams to outline "3" at each 30-yard line marker in the Bills' signature colors, blue or red.

Andre Reed hasn't rocked his jersey since he retired in 2001, but the Bills legend found an incredibly worthy reason to dust off the old laundry ... the Hall of Famer wanted to show love to Damar Hamlin as he remains hospitalized in critical condition.

Reed, one of the greatest players in Buffalo history, altered his old Bills uni, crossing out the number "8" on the left, leaving just the "3" remaining ... Damar's number.

The Hall of Fame wide receiver also covered "REED" ... and replaced it with "HAMLIN".

Reed didn't just tweak his wardrobe ... he also sent a heartfelt message to the young defender.

"Keeping prayer for you, D. What else can I say, man. The whole nation is behind you, behind your family. We know you were in the dark but now you're coming out the dark. You can see the light so we're so happy for that," the 7x Pro Bowler said.

"Bills nation, Bills Mafia, everybody across the country, we're so ecstatic about the news today. We know you're gonna pull through and keep going. We love you, bro."

Of course, the news Andre's ecstatic about came from Damar's doctors Thursday morning ... when they happily reported Hamlin showed "remarkable improvement" overnight, noting he's "neurologically intact", even after his heart stopped on the field.

Despite the good news, doctors cautioned that Hamlin still has a long road to recovery.

Aries Spears sounds kinda like an angry old dude on his porch -- demanding Black men ditch the "sagging jeans" trend, and he thinks Soulja Boy should spearhead the change!!!

The controversial comedian was venting to VladTV about Black men's and women's fashion, and recalled a time he saw Soulja standing at a bank teller window ... flaunting the underwear covering his butt. 😅

Aries says he made eye contact with a White woman disapproving of SB's swag sag, and all he could do was shrug because he felt just like she did.

At 47 years old, Aries says he's comfortable speaking his mind and wishes he could grab every Black person's pants that are sagging and pull them up ... although, he's not naive to the number of fights that would start.

Aries called the Soulja moment embarrassing for the culture as a whole, and also has harsh criticism for Black women: No more bonnets and hair wraps in public! He claims he might start snatching them off heads.

Amazing moment in Memphis on Sunday night ... Ja Morant gifted a kid the shoes off his feet following a game -- and the act was so generous, it brought the youngster to tears!!

The emotional scene happened after Ja and the Grizzlies beat the Sacramento Kings, 118-108 ... when Morant saw 9-year-old Zander Carr holding a sign that read, "Ready to JAM out in my JA 1's #summer2023."

The 23-year-old NBA superstar took off his pink, Ja 1 Nike kicks ... and walked over to the kid -- who was already sobbing at the up-close site of the Memphis point guard.

Eventually, Ja signed the shoes and gave Carr a hug -- which turned the youngster into a complete puddle of emotions.

Check out the video the Grizzlies posted of the interaction -- it's pretty awesome!!

Carr's mom, Krissi, could be heard in the clip in complete disbelief ... telling Morant the game was her son's birthday present. The three ultimately posed for a photo ... before Morant headed back to the locker room.

FYI, the kicks Carr got are Ja's debut sneakers with Nike ... that were released on Christmas Day. Morant had dedicated the new signature sneakers to his 3-year-old daughter, Kaari, whose name is actually imprinted on the inner half of the shoe.

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Pele was paid $120K by a major sneaker company to bend down at midfield and tie his shoe before a 1970 World Cup match ... giving birth to a bitter feud between Puma and Adidas!

Pele's death has unearthed all kinds of stories about the soccer legend, who died Thursday at the age of 82, following a lengthy battle with colon cancer ... including when the greatest player ever was paid the equivalent of $1 million (in 2022 w/ inflation) to tie a Puma soccer cleat, according to Joe Pompliano, who told the story.

It all started in 1924 when Adolf and Rudolf Dassler started a shoe company, Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory. The shoemaker was successful, and Jesse Owens even wore their brand during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, where Owens dominated in front of Hitler, winning 4 gold medals.

But, by 1948, the brothers had a falling out and decided to go their own way ... each starting a sneaker company of their own. Adolf created Adidas and Rudolf, Puma. The brothers swore to never do business with one another.

Things changed in the late 60s when the brothers buried the hatchet and began communicating again, all in the interest of self-preservation. Adolf and Rudolf made a "Pele pact," an agreement that both companies would stay away from Pele, the biggest sports star in the world, fearing a sponsorship negotiation could bankrupt both companies.

Unfortunately for Adidas, Puma didn't exactly abide by the pact. Prior to a World Cup quarterfinal match in 1970 between Peru and Pele's Brazil, Puma paid the soccer superstar $120K to walk toward midfield just before the start of the game, bend down, and tie his Puma shoe.

Of course, Puma wanted to capture the moment on video ... so to ensure they didn't miss the moment, the shoewear company reportedly went as far as to pay the cameraman!

Brazil beat Peru ... and ended up winning the entire World Cup. It was Pele's record third.

The Pele-Puma partnership didn't come to an end with the '70 WC ... the deal was a smash success for everyone involved.

Vivienne Westwood -- whose fashion designs are largely credited for bringing punk styles to the mainstream -- has died.

A statement from Westwood's team announced she died Thursday peacefully and surrounded by loved ones in South London. The statement reads, "Vivienne continued to do the things she loved, up until the last moment, designing, working on her art, writing her book, and changing the world for the better."

It continues, "She led an amazing life. Her innovation and impact over the last 60 years has been immense and will continue into the future."

The statement says, "Vivienne considered herself a Taoist. She wrote, "Tao spiritual system. There was never more need for the Tao today. Tao gives you a feeling that you belong to the cosmos and gives purpose to your life; it gives you such a sense of identity and strength to know you're living the life you can live and therefore ought to be living: make full use of your character and full use of your life on earth."

Finally stating, "The world needs people like Vivienne to make a change for the better."

Westwood got her first recognition thanks to a boutique she and Malcolm McLaren, who managed the Sex Pistols, ran in the UK called SEX. From there, she continued to open shops in London and then around the world.

Later on in her career, she collabed with Pharrell Williams, wedding looks for Princess Eugenie and even designed uniforms for Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic crew.

Westwood was 81.

Kim Kardashian broke down in tears while opening up about her struggles co-parenting with Kanye West amid their split ... and says she's gone to great lengths to keep the drama away from their kids.

Kim got candid on the "Angie Martinez IRL" podcast ... saying hiding the noise from her kids while trying her best to co-parent with Kanye is a serious struggle -- but jumps through hoops to make sure the negativity isn't brought to their kids.

She sheds some tears while reflecting on her dad, Robert ... and hopes to give her kids the same great memories Robert gave to her -- but admits it's tough during multiple waves of controversy.

As Angie points out, Kim ain't co-parenting with a nobody ... and Kim sheds some more tears -- hoping North, Chicago, Saint, and Psalm will thank her later in life for not bashing their pops.

Kim also opens up about her experience during Balenciaga's backlash ... saying her response to the controversy didn't come quick enough to the public -- even though she claims she was in the dark about the ordeal at first.

Another year, another Kardashian Christmas ... and this one was just as extravagant as ever.

The whole fam came together Saturday for an Xmas Eve blowout, which took place at Kourtney's house -- where she spared no expense in decking the place out with holiday-themed decorations, treats and attractions ... tons of fun for both adults and kids.

There was an elaborate spread of good eats for everyone to nosh on, and grownup beverages aplenty for those who were thirsty ... of which there seemed to be a few.

The house itself looked like something straight out of a Christmas fairytale -- or a Winter Wonderland, more like. Tons of fir trees adorned the grounds, some of them even looked to be different colors (red) ... and they were fully decorated too with lights and such.

The hired talent was on point as well ... the KarJenners hired Sia to belt out some tunes for everyone ... and it seems North West was in the mood to croon too, which she totally did.

As for the ladies themselves ... everybody was in their best holiday attire, dressed to the nines in evening gowns that looked pretty fabulous on each and every one of them.

Kim chose a sparkly silver dress ... while Khloe and Kourtney went with red and white, respectively. Kylie had a black and white ensemble on, and Kendall rocked a Jessica Rabbit look -- pulling it off well, we might add.

Unclear how many people attended this thing, but by the looks of all their videos ... it appeared packed (and poppin'). You can see all of the sisters enjoying themselves with a drink or two in their hands -- ditto for all the little ones, who were having a ball.

The Kardashians have thrown some awesome shindigs in their day -- but this one might take the cake in what was clearly an eventful year for them. That's another one in the books ... and another 365 days over with for the krew.

Can't wait to see what 2023 brings ... probably a lot, we're sure.

Kathy Hilton is shutting down all the naysayers who had something bad to say about Kim Kardashian's outfit at Kathy's holiday party.

We got Kathy out in Bev Hills to get her thoughts on Kim's holiday fit ... after fans blasted her for missing the fashion memo.

Kathy makes it clear ... there was no theme for the party, and guests could wear anything they wanted as long as they were comfortable. She says there was nothing wrong with Kim's getup ... calling the whole thing silly and ridiculous.

ICYMI, the SKIMS founder rocked a cropped concert T-shirt and black leather pants, while others at the party were in festive holiday red and green ... as with many things, it didn't sit right with some folks on social media.

One user wrote, "did kim not get the message that it was a... CHRISTMAS party???" Another flat-out called her outfit disrespectful.

Adidas cutting ties with Kanye West has turned out to be a major gamble, because it has over half a billion dollars worth of the guy's shoes to sell, without his name anymore.

We already knew Adidas was planning to move forward with selling unbranded Yeezys post-split, but now ... we have a bit more insight into why. According to the Financial Times, insiders at the sneaker company claim Adidas is sitting on a huge mountain of Yeezys.

Per the report, the inventory the company has amounts to about $530 million ... and Adidas is apparently eager to hawk them to avoid taking an even bigger hit than what it's publicly disclosed thus far -- which was already looking quite grim for end-of-year numbers.

On top of the staggering amount of shoes it has to move -- which Adidas is reportedly scrambling to figure out how to do it -- the FT story goes into some detail about how deeply tied it was to Yeezys and to what extent Adidas was hinging its success on it.

In 2022 alone, Yeezys made Adidas upwards of $1.8 billion ... and made up around 7% of its total profits. The report also says Yeezy has stayed strong as a constant product in the Adidas wheelhouse since at least 2019, which might explain why Adidas took so long to finally cut ties with Kanye -- the dude (and his shoe brand) was literally its cash cow.

Adidas has reportedly already set a date for its first unofficial Yeezy release ... the company is calling it the Adidas 350 V2 “Granite," and it's supposed to retail for $230 -- dropping in January.

There's been a lot of debate online over whether people should (or will) buy what Adidas is trying to sell now ... but this report makes it clear -- it's banking on sneakerheads continuing to cop, because if they don't ... it could mean trouble for the shoe company.

Nyheim Hines is ready to be both Josh Allen AND Santa's helper this Saturday ... the Bills running back just copped some awesome cleats for Buffalo's Christmas Eve game -- that are elf-themed!

TMZ Sports has learned ... the tailback -- who was traded to the Bills in November -- wanted a Xmas design on his feet to celebrate the holiday during the pregame of Buffalo's tilt with Chicago. So, he hit up his main cleat artist Rodney Jackson for the hookup ... and, as always, the guy delivered.

Jackson customized a pair of Adidas spikes for the 26-year-old ... wrapping the kicks in green velvet material -- just like Santa's elves. The shoes also feature red trimming all over -- plus jingle bells.

The design was all Jackson's idea ... and we're told it only took about two hours to put together, despite a need to finesse the curvy toes.

"I cut elf slippers and added a lil' more stuffing [to the cleats], glued it, sewed it, and added new bells to it," Jackson said.

Of course, this won't be the first Xmas weekend game Hines has been swagged out for ... last year, when he was an Indianapolis Colt, he wore Jackson-made furry Grinch pre-game cleats.

Justin Bieber is about to get a massive holiday bonus ... and he's already spending some of the money that's seemingly coming his way.

The singer and his wife Hailey splurged on Thursday, going shopping on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills ... on the heels of reports emerging that Justin is nearing a roughly $200 million deal to sell his entire music catalog.

Justin's looking like someone who is about to cash in big-time ... evidenced by the huge grin on his face. The couple chowed down before going shopping, and Justin brought a coffee along with him.

Remember ... the Wall Street Journal is reporting Justin is closing in on a deal to sell his recorded music catalog to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for about $200 million.

So the Biebs has money to spend ... just in time for some last-minute holiday shopping.