The New York Liberty’s mascot is turning the tunnel walk into her own runway.
Ellie the Elephant was already famous for twerking, doing the Ashanti scoot and snapping her braids during games, set to the music of Mary J. Blige or Lil’ Kim. But this season, she’s been in a fashion league of her own, delighting her 160,000 TikTok followers with extremely sassy “get ready with me” videos and showing up to games in exclusive designer gear.
Like a proper celebrity, Ellie has her own stylist — two of them, in fact, Criscia Long and Shenay Rivers, known as her “aunties” on social media.
For the first Barclays Center home game back in May, they dressed Ellie in a turquoise Liberty jersey dress from luxury sportswear label Rare Breed BX and a Telfar x UGG shearling-lined suede bag.
Fans flipped out at the sight of the sashaying mascot carrying the $420 bag. “That’s when we really knew, ‘Wait, we’re doing something bigger than we’ve ever imagined,’” Long said.
Now, designers are lining up to work with Ellie, proving that brand deals are not just for the athletes.
New York-based artist Nina Chanel Abney — who has a partnership with Nike’s Air Jordan – chose Ellie as her muse, outfitting the pachyderm in a custom Liberty Jordan jersey dress with turquoise Jordan sneakers.
But Long and Rivers also shop for looks for Ellie off the rack, sometimes at stores like H&M or Forever 21, then work with costume manager Alexis Leatherwood to bedazzle the clothes with studs and rhinestones.
There are unique challenges — like altering pants to fit a tail.
“At game days we have a costume manager organizing the clothes. The costume originally wasn’t made for this. We’re maneuvering hair and costumes in ways where it has to work for a performer to get out there and perform,” Long said.
Ellie agreed to model some of her favorite looks for The Post, including a Liberty Ice Cream Hoodie, a Forever 21 jacket decked with silver studs and a hot pink bag by the brand Hello Ditto, along with Nike Sabrina sneakers.
A sportier look included a white Jersey dress designed by Gabe Stark at Rare Breed BX.
The handbag-loving mascot also stepped out with a $265 Karrica basketball-shaped purse. (She’s been known to tap Barclays security guards as purse holders while she shakes her booty.)
Ellie’s hair — a multi-colored braid made of human hair — is always considered, too.
“We go to the hair store and buy that hair. We change the braid every single game,” Long said. “Sometimes we have to change it from rehearsal to game. We like to allot a good 30 minutes to an hour to make sure her hair is pristine.”
Although the high-spirited dancer inside the costume is kept a tightly-guarded secret, the confirmed Brooklynite likes to put their own stamp on Ellie’s look and has requested custom-made hoop earrings to fit her floppy elephant ears, Long said.
Shana Stephenson, chief brand officer for the New York Liberty, told The Post the team thinks of Ellie as an influencer when negotiating brand deals and partnerships.
“We created a rate card specifically for Ellie. We recognize the opportunity and monetization of Ellie as a New York Liberty asset,” Stephenson said. “We do turn down some opportunities.
“Brands are constantly coming to us. Ellie is viewed very much as a social media influencer, and, the same way influencers are compensated for making certain posts, that’s a route we’ve explored with Ellie as well.”
Singer Ciara invited Ellie to perform during her song “Drop Your Love” at her Barclays Center concert earlier this month with just 24 hours notice.
“She [Ciara] had a real fan girl moment,” Stephenson told The Post.
She’s not the only on.
“Have I ever seen a WNBA game? No. … Do I love Ellie? YES!,” one fan commented on TikTok.
“I’m seriously flying across the country for a Liberty game to see Ellie,” another wrote.
Stephenson admitted Ellie has had some fashion mishaps, but she’s such a pro you can’t even tell.
“We’ve had a moment where the braid became a little detached — but Ellie just whipped it around.”
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