This 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl was many issues to Kristin Juszczyk.
It was a crushing loss for her husband’s staff, the San Francisco 49ers. Nevertheless it was additionally the fruits of weeks of frenzied curiosity within the garments she made by hand and wore to N.F.L. video games. (The Tremendous Bowl occurred to happen on her thirtieth birthday, too.)
“This actually all began as a passion for me,” stated Ms. Juszczyk, whose passion — repurposing classic staff gear into one-off items — finally made international headlines.
From early January to mid-February (or the N.F.L. playoff season, roughly), her Instagram following grew by a million individuals. Taylor Swift and Simone Biles wore puffer jackets designed by Ms. Juszczyk whereas supporting their football-playing companions. (Her husband is Kyle Juszczyk, a 49ers fullback.) She signed a licensing take care of the N.F.L., which allowed her to make use of the league’s logos on her clothes.
Ms. Juszczyk has spent the following months determining find out how to scale her enterprise in order that she’s not simply taking commissions from fellow WAGs and well-known followers — her “bread and butter,” she stated — but additionally making issues that any fan can purchase and put on.
She has additionally expanded into different sports activities; she designed a vest for the basketball participant Caitlin Clark, for instance. This weekend, the winner of the Indy 500 will likely be given certainly one of Ms. Juszczyk’s jackets. So will the Indy 500’s nationwide anthem singer, Jordin Sparks.
Ms. Juszczyk designed the Indy 500 jackets utilizing classic sweatshirts, T-shirts and checkered racing flags.
“After I consider Indy 500, I consider a really loud design,” stated Ms. Juszczyk, who isn’t in a position to attend this 12 months’s race — one of many largest sporting occasions on the earth.
Right here, in an interview edited and condensed for readability, Ms. Juszczyk presents an replace on her design profession.
Discuss to me about the way you see your self proper now as a small-business proprietor. How do you’re feeling increasing into a unique sporting world?
My purpose has all the time been to provide my designs to followers of all totally different occasions. I by no means wished to pigeonhole myself to simply the N.F.L., as a result of I feel there are followers in all sporting worlds and leagues and golf equipment which might be on the lookout for extra contemporary, fashion-forward designs.
I simply have my head down, attempting to get this enterprise off the bottom and get designs into followers’ arms. That is the primary time I’m coming into a licensed world, and I’m studying new issues day-after-day.
What do you assume it’s about your work that resonates with individuals?
As a designer, when you’re not sporting your individual designs, then who’s sporting them? I’m a fan by way of and thru. I’m going to each certainly one of my husband’s video games, and I spotted about 5 years into his profession that I didn’t need to put on the identical 4 issues in rotation. I wished to push the needle and put on designs you couldn’t discover anyplace else.
When did you make your first jacket?
I began stitching solely about 5 years in the past. One Halloween, I wished us to be Justin and Britney from the AMAs — the complete denim outfits. I couldn’t discover them on-line, so I purchased a bunch of previous denim pants and began chopping them up. I purchased a stitching machine and went on YouTube and discovered find out how to use it. It got here naturally to me.
Later, I made a decision to make a pair of sweatpants to put on to certainly one of Kyle’s video games, and it snowballed from there. I stored difficult myself to discover ways to make shirts and skirts and blazers. This complete factor went loopy after I made the puffer vest and the puffer jackets — that’s what bought the world’s consideration. However it began with a Halloween costume.
In your posts on-line, you make a degree of displaying the work that goes into these items.
I feel it’s cool for individuals to see that I don’t have a elaborate studio. I’m stitching on my Ping-Pong desk. That’s another excuse this resonates with individuals: It’s very relatable. Individuals do initiatives at dwelling on a regular basis.
How did you strategy designing this Indy 500 jacket?
I’m all the time attempting to broaden my ability set. I’ve by no means made a bomber design this fashion, however I wished it to really feel extra “racecar.” I form of bought right into a rut making puffers.
I threw in slightly Easter egg: There was a really well-known second in 1985, with Danny Sullivan, referred to as the “spin and win.” For those who have a look at the jacket, you possibly can see that the flag is spun.
I’m excited to see who the winner is. There’s a feminine racer this 12 months, Katherine Legge. We’re rooting for everybody, however it might be actually cool to see her win that jacket.
