Washington Spirit stars Trinity Rodman and Croix Bethune enter their fashion era

Washington Spirit star forward Trinity Rodman entered the soccer team’s semifinal against the Portland Thorns listed as questionable after sustaining a Grade 1 medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprain on Oct. 15 against Monterrey.

But anyone who knows Rodman knew that the moment she debuted a fresh hair color during warmups, she would find her way into the match despite the knee injury.

As the Spirit earned their way back to the National Women’s Soccer League championship for the second straight year, Rodman checked in for Sofia Cantore in the 88th minute, her newly straightened hair streaked with purple and gray catching the stadium lights. As the sold-out home crowd at Audi Field erupted, Rodman tried to keep her smile in check.

Later in the match, midfielder Croix Bethune delivered the Spirit’s second goal of the afternoon and immediately broke into the viral ‘6-7’ TikTok dance.

Together, the Olympic duo has boosted the drama of this year’s playoffs—not just through their play, but through a rapidly evolving fashion presence. It has included one-of-one vintage finds, custom DIY pieces, show-stopping accessories, and even a hint of WAG (wives and girlfriends of athletes) style from Rodman as she supports her boyfriend, tennis phenom Ben Shelton.

The championship-bound trailblazers were not only in sync on the field but also aligned in their ambition to become two of the biggest names in NWSL marketing and fashion.

Their style statements started with their hair. Recently, Bethune began locking her hair after years of wanting to commit to the look.

“My cousin and her wife and their four kids have locs,” said Bethune, 24. “They’ve been a big influence. I also want to have healthy hair, and when you leave it alone, in the state that it is right now, it grows so quickly.”

Rodman, 23, let her hair — and her game — speak for her. Because NWSL uniform rules limited accessories on match days, Rodman said she turned her hairstyles into her signature form of expression.

A few days before leaving for Paris to represent Team USA in the 2024 Olympics, Rodman spent six hours in a D.C. chair getting long, multi-toned pink knotless braids for the team’s quest for a fifth gold medal. She considered purple or blue, but was glad she hadn’t chosen blue. Teammate Crystal Dunn arrived with blue, knotless braids of her own.

Outside of the team’s historic victory over Brazil in the gold medal match, Rodman’s braids went viral. Young fans soon attended Spirit games in pink braids and Rodman T-shirts.

“Going into the Olympics, I wasn’t like, ‘I’m going to be iconic.’ I didn’t know it was going to be a huge thing,” said Rodman, the daughter of Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman. “I just wanted to do something fun. Afterwards, it was this whole movement with the youth … seeing kids who might usually be shy come to games with loud hair. That’s what makes soccer and everything I do worth it.”

Ralph Lauren, Team USA’s official outfitter since 2008, outfitted Rodman and Bethune for the Games in its classic navy beret, blazer, striped shirt and denim. When asked about the look, Bethune smiled and gave Rodman credit for how she styled it alongside teammates Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith — a trio that was later nicknamed “Triple Espresso.”

“When it’s a team and you’re able to embrace a different style off the field, it’s unique to see how everybody reacted to the outfits,” Rodman said. “Players like me and Croix always found a way to make it cute.”

During the 2025 NWSL season, Adidas released the F50 SparkFusion in June, followed in July by Rodman’s own player edition dubbed the All Trin’s. Engineered specifically for female athletes through an extensive foot-scanning process, the line incorporated Rodman’s direct input.

The All Trin’s paid tribute to her evolution. Since her NWSL debut in 2021, Rodman rarely took the field without wearing white cleats. The F50 fused her signature white with the pink of her now-iconic braids, seen in the pink Adidas logo and the repeating pink F50 print on the toe — a nod to the bold graphic tees and pants she favored off the field.

Rodman debuted the cleats after four months of chronic back pain, returning in a nationally televised match against the Thorns on ABC.

But she didn’t want her influence to stop at cleats. Rodman said she hoped to design a customizable lifestyle sneaker with Adidas featuring interchangeable charms, lace materials, Velcro straps, and cut-outs.

She gravitated toward the Adidas Samba OG in leopard and preloved red for brand events and the silver metallic/cloud white colorway for date nights. She also hopes to launch her own clothing line by the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, hinting that it would be heavily focused on hoodies and lounge sets.

Bethune, meanwhile, continued to carve out her own fashion lane. After earning NWSL Midfielder of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors in 2024, she appeared well-positioned for a Nike player-edition cleat. When the moment arrived, she said she planned to draw inspiration from the Nike Air Foamposite One — a DMV (District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia) staple.

“I’m in the DMV,” Bethune said. “That’s a D.C. shoe, for sure.”

One of their favorite perks of being signed to Adidas and Nike was opening boxes filled with new collaborations. Bethune recently received the Jacquemus x Nike Moon Shoe in navy and immediately asked for the red and cream pairs.

“There’s so many collaborations and I want them all,” she said. “I gave Nike feedback on what I liked and didn’t like, and I had the ability to ask for more.”

Rodman said whatever the “craziest and most outrageous” Adidas collab was at the moment was usually what showed up at her door. Her outfits almost always centered on a pair of what she called her “funky pants.”

“I think it’s all sick,” Rodman said. “I got inspiration from red carpets, runways, rappers and men’s style. Sometimes I even tried to dress Ben [Shelton] how I would dress if I were a guy.”

She also enjoyed mixing DIY touches into her high-fashion looks — recently customizing a pair of sweatpants with pins from Amazon and Michaels fastened with a hot glue gun.

Bethune said she was most excited about picking out her jewelry and purse of the day. Her go-to bag was the Goyard Goyardine Reversible Mini Anjou in gray. One of her favorite finds was a vintage Louis Vuitton monogram Sammie Saddle purse. Rodman said her favorite accessories were her David Yurman pieces and that her most expensive purchase to date was a Balenciaga bag.

“My parents were very stylish,” Bethune said. “They’re in their 60s, and I got a lot of inspiration from them. I went through their closets. They had pieces you’ve probably never seen. I wore a lot of their stuff. And I honestly went thrifting a lot. You never know what you’ll find. It could be a one-of-one piece.”

Ultimately, one theme is clear: Rodman and Bethune view themselves as the future faces of major fashion campaigns — and believe they know what it takes to get there.

“Brands make their lines and then try to figure out who fits the mold,” Rodman said. “It needs to be more collaborative with the audience they’re selling to and the athletes they want to incorporate. But me? I’ll wear whatever — so let’s go.”

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