To quote Taylor Swift, it was the night things changed.
On January 13, the pop superstar braved the Kansas City chill to cheer on boyfriend Travis Kelce at one of his Chiefs games, clad in a custom puffer jacket fashioned from one of the tight end’s jerseys — and crafted by fellow WAG Kristin Juszczyk.
“She single-handedly changed my career. I feel like I owe her everything, truly,” the designer, who’s married to 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, tells Page Six Style of the viral moment.
“It was such a pinch-me moment seeing her wear something of mine, and it just completely changed the trajectory of everything that I was doing. She opened up so many doors for me. And she looked amazing!”
8 In the months since, Juszczyk’s Instagram following has grown by 1 million people, she’s signed a licensing deal with the NFL and she’s whipped up custom pieces for the likes of Olivia Culpo, Caitlin Clark, Livvy Dunne and Natalia Bryant.
And while her work has primarily been limited to special commissions by fellow sports (and sports-adjacent) stars up until now, Juszczyk is partnering with Marriott Bonvoy to offer fans the chance to win one of her unique personalized pieces, along with a design consultation.
“It will be completely customizable depending on what the winner wants; it could be a jacket, a pair of pants, even shorts. The world’s really their oyster!” she tells us of the prize package, which Marriott Bonvoy members can use their points to bid on beginning Oct. 10.
“It’ll be so fun to be able to meet with them and develop something that they’re looking for.”
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8 The lucky winner will be able to witness Juszczyk’s design process firsthand — one she says hasn’t changed all that much since she began putting her own crafty spin on NFL attire about five years ago.
“My husband’s been so fortunate to have such a long career in the NFL, and I just got really sick of having the same three or four pieces in rotation,” she recalls of what inspired her to start making her own game-day looks.
“We had a box of Kyle’s merch, so I just kind of got inspired to start cutting [T-shirts] up and see what I could make out of them. The first thing I ever made for a game day was actually a pair of patchwork sweatpants; looking back now, they are so bad, but I was so proud of them!”
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8 The self-taught sewing savante says she “fell in love” with the process of constructing a garment from start to finish.
“I kind of got addicted to the feeling of how rewarding it really was to spend a lot of time and energy working with my hands, and then being able to physically have a finished product,” she tells us.
In the years since, Juszczyk’s transformed standard-issue sports merch into everything from corsets to cargo pants to boot covers — and each project comes with “its own challenges.”
“The first time I made my puffer jacket, I had actually never done a sleeve before! So it was just a lot of learning,” she shares.
“It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been sewing; you will always be constantly having to learn or reteach yourself something. Every piece is challenging because I always have a vision of what I want; it’s just a matter of if I can actually make that come to life.”
As for whether she’s working on another special style for Swift as NFL season continues?
“Not at the moment — but you never know!” Juszczyk says. “I would always love to make her something.”
