Siegelman Stable founder: how a horse racing brand became an organic NBA favorite

Siegelman Stable

Max Siegelman started Siegelman Stable in 2020 with a $300 investment, making hats and sweatshirts printed with his father's horse racing stable logo. The first run went to family and friends — some of whom happened to be hip hop artists and NBA players. A second $300 run followed, and the brand's organic momentum began from there.

The company is now a six-person team. Siegelman went full time three years ago, partly on the encouragement of Gary Vaynerchuk. His wife serves as creative director.

Distribution and retail strategy

Siegelman Stable launched as 100% DTC through its own website, turning down early opportunities with larger retailers to protect the brand. The pop-up model has become central — the brand is opening a five-week Soho space next week, used for retail during the day and private dinners and events outside retail hours. A Chicago pop-up earlier this year was the first time the brand activated in that market in person; Dallas and LA are also top markets, with a first in-person presence in Dallas tentatively planned for early 2027.

Paid media has been near-zero historically. The brand recently started small-scale testing on Google and Meta, primarily for local awareness around pop-up openings rather than conversion.

“I invested $300, made some hats and sweatshirts, gave it to family and friends. Some of those friends were hip hop artists, NBA guys. The best quote of the NBA run was: we've become an additional logo of the New York Knicks. We just did a deal with Mitchell and Ness that will now allow us to do any team, any league.”

NBA organic adoption

The brand's clearest growth engine has been unpaid athlete adoption. Jalen Brunson became a fan organically before he was a household name, and Siegelman Stable has since formalized a local licensing deal with the New York Knicks — wholesale only, sold in-arena, not through Siegelman's own channels. The brand describes itself as "an additional logo of the New York Knicks." A new deal with Mitchell & Ness now opens the door to licensing across any team and any league, beyond the NBA and MLB arrangements the brand has done previously.

Collaborations and brand partnerships

Siegelman releases roughly two products a month — a mix of seasonal drops and collaborations. Past partners include Don Julio 1942 across the last three to four Super Bowls. The brand is currently in discussions with an automotive partner on a longer-term deal, and is in early conversations with fashion houses that fall under LVMH and Kering. Siegelman's view is that one significant project with a group at that scale would move the brand into broader luxury recognition, though he frames it as a marathon rather than a sprint.

Product and pricing

Headwear is the brand's signature and lowest-priced entry point. The brand has expanded into luxury ready-to-wear, outerwear, and loungewear. Suits and tuxedos have been produced — Siegelman wore a custom tuxedo to his own wedding. The customer base is roughly 50/50 male and female, which Siegelman says is broader than the brand's perceived demographic. Leather goods have been limited to small accessories — belts, card holders, wallets, passport holders — with bags not yet a focus.

Wholesale has been deliberately avoided so far, though Siegelman acknowledges the trade-off: bulk wholesale orders lower unit costs and provide marketing reach into markets that DTC struggles to penetrate efficiently.

The brand also uses AI heavily on the operations side — scheduling, workflow automation built into tools like Claude and Monday.com — while keeping design largely hand-drawn, which Siegelman treats as a deliberate brand signal.