Subscribe: Apple Podcasts • Spotify
In the fall of 2024, the NFL hired its first fashion editor, Kyle Smith. The timing felt right, considering the increasing number of fashion and sports collaborations that had rolled out in the months prior, fueled in part by the Summer Olympics. There was also the growing interest in “tunnel fits,” thanks to social media providing more access to athletes’ lives off the field. Smith joined the NFL with a fashion resume that included writing for magazines, doing brand PR and styling under Karla Welch.
For this week’s episode of the Glossy Podcast, Smith joined host Jill Manoff to discuss the influence of athletes’ style, the current fashion-sports relationship and the responsibilities he has in his new role. He also recaps his recent trips to international fashion weeks and shares his process for styling his clients, including Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. Highlights from the conversation, below, have been lightly edited for clarity.
The job’s responsibilities
“I would say there are three big buckets. One is the consumer products end, which is what we sell on NFL Shop and what merchandise fans can buy. That includes our mainline products, like jerseys and other cool stuff that’s always available on NFL Shop, but also partnering with really cool brands. For example, this hoodie was from one of the first collaborations I worked on, with Warren Lotas, who’s a really cool L.A. streetwear designer. So I’m [figuring out]: How can we work with cool designers to bring in a younger audience, or a Gen-Z audience or a fashion audience? If Rihanna is doing the halftime show, how do we work with Fenty to create really cool products? There are also, like, the Kristin Juszczyks of it all, where we’re like, ‘This is a cool story. We have to do something [together].’ And then the other big bucket is the social element: How does the consumer product side play out in social? How are we posting on NFL Style? Who is the best-dressed player of the week? We’re also creating content with players to post on social — we’re going into their closets and just following them as they get ready for a game. And then the other big bucket is all player-focused. Players come to me and say: ‘What does a stylist do?’ ‘How do I go to Fashion Week?’ ‘What is the Met Gala?’ They ask all these questions, and I try to answer them as much as possible and work with them as much as possible to just help with their fashion goals. Because a lot of these players are just young, awesome, cool dudes who have a sense of style and they want to know how that can help them, whether to just express themselves or to be directly involved in the world of fashion.”
What’s behind fashion’s sports obsession
“I always say that fashion and sports are these two huge industries — neither of them are going anywhere, ever, but now they’re really together. It’s like two huge divas coming together to maximize their slay, and I love it. And I think it’s for a few reasons that we’ve seen this convergence. One is just the authenticity of it all — that especially comes from sports. In the end, an athlete’s job is to play and do their job and be the best athlete in the world. And it’s really exciting to see what they are wearing and what they’re up to, because everything they do is them — it’s their authentic self. They’re not paid to sell an album or a movie or a product. They’re just wearing something because they want to. And so, if I see a player who I love, who I know is really cool and awesome and gives back to his community — like, someone I aspire to be — and if he’s wearing something, I’m like, ‘Wait, maybe I want that because I kind of want to be like him.’ And so, I think what fashion sees in sports is these really cool stories — and who wouldn’t want to be a part of that journey of, for example, a player or some kid from a small town making it all the way to the NFL, being drafted and winning a Super Bowl? That’s a really awesome story to be a part of, and it would be a miss if fashion didn’t want to be a part of that in some way.”
Athletes as trendsetters
“What I see in the tunnel is a lot of different things, a lot of different styles. And that’s what I think is really cool about the NFL — we have so many different body types and personalities. Each team is huge, so there’s for sure a guy out there that you can resonate with. We have tall guys, shorter guys, really slim guys and much larger guys — so, it’s inspiring for people who want to wear a suit but have always felt like their body wasn’t meant for a suit. I guarantee you that there is a player wearing a perfectly done suit in your body type. When it comes to trends, … I’m always seeing suits and I’m always seeing really cool streetwear and designers, but then I’m also seeing players who want to express themselves and wear something they know nobody else is wearing. Sometimes it’s not even a trend that’s happening, but it’s [instead] the start of a trend that I will see later outside of the tunnel.”
Are NFL fans and fashion fans the same?
“We have our hardcore [football] fans. They will watch every Sunday, every game day, no matter what — they are there to watch the game. And I love that for them. What I do, and where the NFL sees the opportunity with fashion and tunnel fits, is the helmet-off experiences. At the NFL, we wear helmets, thankfully — but what that does is it kind of stops that organic connection that you might make with a player on the field. So, how many opportunities and what opportunities do we have to create another connection — a helmet-off connection? When can you see their face and really build a relationship with this person? And fashion is such a key player there. When you see a player walking in wearing a Sade T-shirt, you may think, ‘Oh! Now I may be interested in this player because he likes Sade, too.’ … And so what that does is it really grows our audience. It helps us get more casual fans interested and involved, and they want to follow this player from team to team, no matter where they are — they’re now invested in being a fan of the NFL. So, we have these casual fans, and we have these avid fans. Fashion has really helped us bring more of those casual fans and be like, ‘Look, there’s something here for you. There’s a player here that you can relate to. There’s a storyline here that you might connect with.’ And that’s, I think, the coolest part about fashion: the potential to bring people together.”
