You remember the jacket. January 13, 2024, Chiefs and Dolphins, AFC Wild Card at Arrowhead. Minus 4 degrees, a wind chill of minus 27, the fourth-coldest game in NFL history. And there was Taylor Swift, in a red puffer with Travis Kelce's name and No. 87 on it.
By the next day everybody wanted to know who made it. The NFL's own account answered, tagging her: Swifties are loving the jacket. Her name was Kristin Juszczyk. Her husband, Kyle, plays fullback for the San Francisco 49ers. She had never studied fashion. She had sold real estate. She had learned to sew from YouTube videos, and a single jacket could take her 20 hours. Seventeen days later, the NFL confirmed she had a license to put its logos on her clothes.
Who made that?
The Swift jacket started as a favor. Brittany Mahomes, wife of the Chiefs quarterback, asked Kristin whether she would make one for Swift as a gift. That same weekend she was also working on a commission for actor Taylor Lautner, a Lions jacket.
Then the credit went to the wrong place. When a broadcast credited Nike for one of her designs, Kyle told The Athletic they had to let people know it was all Kristin.
On January 30, 2024, the NFL confirmed her license to use its marks on men's and women's apparel. Over on The Pat McAfee Show, Kyle said she was still deciding whether to partner with a company or go it alone.
Four shirts
To get how she ended up there, back up to Long Island. Kristin Arceri was born on February 11, 1994, in Massapequa. Her grandmother taught her to love sewing; the two of them spent nights watching Wheel of Fortune and crocheting. Most of her family are entrepreneurs. She got a business degree from Towson University in 2016 and met Kyle while he was playing for the Baltimore Ravens. They married in July 2019. She sold real estate in Baltimore.
When Kyle signed with the Niners, they moved to the Bay Area. And on game days she was tired of what she called a rotation of four shirts. Nothing in the stores was what she wanted to wear.
The sewing machine came from a Halloween costume. She wanted to go as Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears in their matching denim from the VMAs, and she could not find it online. So she bought a machine and taught herself from YouTube tutorials. She told KRON4 she had forgotten how much she loved it. Her first game day piece was a pair of sweatpants and a crop top cut out of Kyle's team T-shirts. Then she set a goal: something new for every game.
"If I can't buy it, I'm going to try to create it."
Kristin Juszczyk, to Fox News Digital, August 2024
A perfectionist's leap
For five seasons she sewed her own sideline fits out of jerseys, thrifted 49ers gear and even footballs, and posted the process online. By her own account, she had never made anything for anybody else.
She was scared to. Handing a piece to someone else, she said, would take it to a whole other level.
"I had never made anything for anybody else, so I was always hesitant because I'm a perfectionist at my heart."
Kristin Juszczyk, to Fox News Digital, August 2024
In 2023 she started taking commissions. On December 31, 2023, Deebo Samuel walked into FedExField for the Niners' game against the Commanders in a red vest she had made, covered in Brock Purdy's No. 13 and MVP. Brittany Mahomes ordered pieces. So did Simone Biles. One of her ideas was a puffer jacket built from a jersey. Thirteen days later, one of her puffers was on Taylor Swift at Arrowhead.
Super Bowl week
About a month after the cold game, the jacket's team and her husband's team met in Las Vegas. On February 11, at Super Bowl LVIII, she wore a jacket she made herself that traced Kyle's whole career, from Harvard to his Pro Bowls. The Chiefs beat the 49ers 25-22 in overtime.
In March she answered fan questions on Instagram. All she had ever wanted, she wrote, was to be an entrepreneur. She was also honest about what the attention felt like.
"It's hard sometimes not to have imposter syndrome when you start to have success, so I struggle with that."
Kristin Juszczyk, answering fan questions on her Instagram Stories, March 2024, as reported by Fox News
Off Season
She did not go it alone. On January 7, 2025, she launched Off Season with Emma Grede, a co-founder of Good American and a founding partner of Skims. Fanatics runs it, and the NFL licenses it. The first drop was puffer vests, jackets and long coats for a handful of teams, among them the 49ers, Chiefs, Eagles, Lions and Bills, from $295 for a vest to $495 for a long coat.
Four of the 32 items sold out on day one, and two more by the end of that week. The George Kittle vest and coat both sold out. In April 2025, Victoria Picca, who had overseen licensing for more than 700 licensees at Fanatics, came on as president.
"This has really surpassed our expectations."
Emma Grede, Off Season co-founder and CEO, to Front Office Sports, January 2025
In September 2025 the brand added seven more NFL teams, a week after a WNBA collection went on sale. Juszczyk said she had always wanted to design for the fans.
Year two
On April 23, 2026, Off Season dropped a collection with Formula 1, sold through the F1 Store and its own site. In June it launched Mainline, its first permanent collection, with a campaign that featured Kyle. The partner list now runs NFL, NBA, WNBA, Team USA and Formula 1, and the clothes are sold at Nordstrom and Revolve.
In July she hosted the ESPYs red carpet in New York with ELLE. She called it a new side quest.
In September, Off Season released its biggest NFL line yet: 21 teams, every style under $185. The second fall drop went on sale September 30 through the brand's site, Fanatics and NFL Shop, with select styles at Urban Outfitters.
"We wanted Off Season to be about bringing those worlds together and creating pieces that live beyond the game."
Kristin Juszczyk, on Off Season's fall 2026 NFL collection, to Page Six, September 2026
Kyle is in the final year of his contract with the 49ers. The woman who used to cycle through four shirts in the stands now makes game day gear for fans of 21 teams, under $185. She always said she wanted to design for the fans.
GAMECHANGER™Reporting draws on NBC Sports, CBS Sports, CBS Baltimore, KRON4, Fox News, Forbes, Awful Announcing, Front Office Sports, InStyle, FashionNetwork, TicketNews, Complex, Page Six, Sportsnaut, Pro Football Network, Sports Illustrated, RotoWire, 49ers Webzone and Wikipedia's documented record of her career.
Sources (22)
NBC Washington: Taylor Swift attends frigid Chiefs playoff game in custom Kelce jacket · CBS Sports: Who is Kristin Juszczyk · CBS Sports: Juszczyk reaches licensing agreement with NFL, wears original look for Super Bowl · KRON4: Kyle Juszczyk's wife makes a name for herself in fashion · Fox News: Juszczyk on her leap of faith and sudden celebrity · Fox News: Juszczyk describes having imposter syndrome · Forbes: Juszczyk inks NFL licensing deal · Awful Announcing: Licensing deal for Kristin Juszczyk · CBS Baltimore: Towson graduate partners with NFL · 49ers Webzone: Recap, 49ers fall to Chiefs in overtime · Front Office Sports: Juszczyk making NFL jackets for fans · InStyle via AOL: How Off Season's Kristin Juszczyk ignited · FashionNetwork: Off Season launches first permanent collection · TicketNews: Formula 1 fashion, new Off Season collection · Pro Football Network: Kristin Juszczyk · Page Six via Yahoo: Off Season fall NFL collection · Complex: Off Season fall collection · Sportsnaut: Juszczyk unveils NFL fall 26 collection · Sports Illustrated: Kyle Juszczyk's latest comments · RotoWire: Kyle Juszczyk · AP via PBS NewsHour: Chiefs and Dolphins play 4th-coldest game in NFL history · NBC Sports Bay Area: Deebo arrives in Purdy MVP vest made by Kristin Juszczyk