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She made the jacket seen around the world.
Massapequa’s Kristin Juszczyk struck gold when she helped superstar Taylor Swift take her game day fashion to the next level during the Kansas City Chiefs’ home playoff win over Miami on Jan. 13.
Swift was there to cheer on her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, in sub-zero temperatures. She came gloriously bundled up in a sleek, custom-fitted Kelce jacket designed and crafted by Juszczyk, who is married to San Fransisco 49ers All-Pro fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
As the pop icon helped root Kelce and his teammates to victory, Kristin Juszczyk jumped on Instagram to post a video showing her lining two coats using Kelce and Kansas City quarterback Pat Mahomes’ jerseys, along with moving images of Swift arriving at the playoff game flashing a smile and wearing the red-and-white No. 87 Kelce coat.
Juszczyk called it “an honor of a lifetime” and she instantly went viral — gaining more than 400,000 followers on Instagram within 24 hours. Today, her Instagram following is creeping up toward 900,000.
This week, Juszczyk and the NFL struck an official licensing deal that will let the 29-year-old fashion designer use NFL marks in men’s and women’s apparel designs, according to multiple reports.
Kristin Juszczyk, wife of 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, secured a licensing agreement with the NFL after her Travis Kelce-themed jacket worn by Taylor Swift went viral. 👏https://t.co/TSxgi4muYD
— Good Morning America (@GMA) January 31, 2024
Juszczyk — a Chief herself, having graduated from Massapequa High School in 2012 as Kristin Arceri — said she is a self-taught designer and seamstress.
“Everyone always asks if I studied fashion in college and the answer is no!” she says on the bio page of her website. “I’ve learned everything I know from YouTube.”
When the Juszczyks met, Kristin was attending Towson University in Maryland and Kyle was playing for the Baltimore Ravens. The couple married in 2019, following Kristin Juszczyk’s college graduation and after the fullback proposed on Memorial Day weekend to his then-girlfriend on Fire Island.
Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino proudly boasted on Facebook on Tuesday about Juszczyk’s Long Island roots.
“SUPER BOWL FUN-FACT…49ers Fullback Kyle Juszczyk is a Massapequa, New York resident, and his wife, Kristin Juszczyk, famously designed the Chiefs jackets worn by Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes.” Saladino tacked on “#TOBproud” and “#swifties” to his post.
Ironically, or perhaps poetically, Super Bowl LVIII will feature Kristin Juszcyk’s husband’s 49ers squaring off against Swift’s boyfriend’s Chiefs in Las Vegas on Feb. 11.
Juszczyk has designed coats for a number of professional athletes and celebrities this football season, including a puffy Green Bay Packers winter vest for gold medal Olympic gymnast Simon Biles, who is wed to the Packers’ Jonathan Owens. Earlier this month, she designed and made a Detroit Lions coat for actor Taylor Lautner.
She has also made and modeled an array of apparel using her husband’s No. 44 jerseys. Check out this example below.
Top photo: Instagram / @kristinjuszczyk
