By Nicole Fernandes
Sept 3 (Reuters) - NFL players are remembered for what they do on the field, but what they wear off it has become just as highlight-reel-worthy in recent years, helping both the league and its players harness fashion as a tool to grow their brands.
A rising interest in athletes’ game-day outfits has helped the relationship between fashion and sports evolve into a world of opportunity.
Nobody knows that better than Kyle Smith, the NFL’s fashion editor, whose job is not only to help
players with their style but to teach them about the various ways they can immerse themselves in the fashion industry.
“As I get to talk to our athletes, what I find is maybe they might not know about all the opportunities that exist for them,” Smith said.
That includes starting clothing brands or walking shows at Paris Fashion Week, like Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson did in 2024.
Fashion is also an approachable way to gain exposure among new and younger audiences. Social media plays a big role in generating interest as people consume content online, whether it is players’ game-day outfits or the league’s “Behind the Fit” video series that dives into the stories behind their style.
Something as simple as a player wearing a band T-shirt could also help the league gain a new fan as it continues to grow globally, Smith said.
“Then you’re following (that athlete) from team to team or their whole career, and you’re buying their jersey,” he said. “So it’s really important for the league to just find a new way to talk to a new audience, especially as we are growing internationally.”
While fashion has opened new doors for the league and its athletes, it is also an avenue to tell stories.
“There’s so many ways that our players are talked about, as the top wide receiver or top quarterback,” said Smith. “But I know our athletes have such rich backgrounds and interests and things beyond the field.”
ATHLETES AS ASSETS
Brands are also recognizing athletes as valuable assets to market products and reach different audiences.
The league has official partnerships with Swiss luxury watchmaker Breitling and American retailer Abercrombie & Fitch. NFL players also walked the runway at February’s GQ Bowl, where Thom Browne presented his fall 2026 collection ahead of the Super Bowl.
“Now brands are loving sending things over to players, contacting me or the players’ agents and (representatives) to make sure that the new collections are in their hands, because they can see that it adds a lot of value to the brand. That our players bring value through their own celebrity,” Smith said.
“Players, they do what they want to do. And so there’s that authenticity that I think fashion is always begging for and yearning for, and our players bring that to everything that they do.”
That authenticity is also helping them become game changers in the men’s fashion scene as they sport pieces that may not be considered traditionally masculine, such as when wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster wore a knee-length skirt to the Super Bowl in 2023.
“If there’s something that they think is cool, they’ll wear it. They don’t really think about what is traditionally seen as men’s wear,” said Smith, adding that younger fans look up to players as style guides and trendsetters.
“The fashion industry is shaping itself a little bit more around our athletes and the potential that our athletes have to shape fashion,” he said.
(Reporting by Nicole Fernandes in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
