NFL players were also paying attention. They wanted their own tunnel. Or they were anyway, like Odell Beckham Jr., Cam Newton, and a few others. Well then, further on. “This is something very new,” says Kyle Smith, who was recently named the NFL’s in-house fashion editor. “When I started working as a stylist at NFL Network in 2019, no one talked about what the players were wearing because they wore pretty much anything. ”Nowadays, the NFL is active in its flashy fashion scene. The company has launched its own style-focused Instagram, one of several new initiatives spearheaded by Smith, and has launched its own style-focused Instagram, one of several new initiatives spearheaded by Smith. The company is broadcasting pre-game interviews introducing the fitness of star players.
“As an agent, one of the things I always impress upon my clients is that there is an inherent value in being noticed and respected outside of sports,” says Tiafoe, who represents Tiafoe and others. Tom Chapman, a partner at the giant agency WME Sports, explains. . “So how do you do it? To be honest, it can be a very short career, but if you want to build a persona that lasts beyond that, fashion can help. And the NBA and NFL, to their credit, have done a great job of giving them a platform, which has been good for everyone.
“So now we’re asking ourselves, how do we keep up with golf, tennis and other sports?” Chapman continues. What do their tunnels look like? ”
Smith wasn’t a football fan until a few years ago. Not his hobby, but sports in general. He began his career as an assistant to celebrity stylist Carla Welch. I happened to get a job dressing soccer players, and at first it was just a job, but I started thinking, Wow, this is interesting. He was struck by how extraordinary their efforts were. “And 90 percent of them, you’ll never recognize their faces because they’re wearing helmets during the game. They’re just part of the team,” Smith points out. “I don’t know, but it was very refreshing.”
Similarly, designer Willy Chavarria had an ambivalent relationship with sports. “I was intrigued aesthetically,” he says. “I’ve always been into the way people dress to assimilate into different groups to express their identity. Team sports are a great example of that: Yankees, Lakers, whatever. Oversized football jerseys are a staple in Chicano culture. It doesn’t matter if you’ve seen the game or not.”
A cheeky version of these jerseys appeared at Chavarria’s Spring 2025 RTW show, which paid homage to America’s Chicano community. (In fact, the collection was named America.) The debut of the Adidas Originals x Willy Chavarria collaboration that closed the show had an even sportier look, with Olympian Noah Lyles appearing as one of the models. Ta. Sports aesthetics still interest Chavarria. Now athletes are also interested in him.
