Kristin Juszczyk and Cyndi Pierre attend a Pre-Super Bowl Dinner (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images for NYLON)
49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk’s wife, Kristin Juszczyk is more than just an NFL wife as a creative designer who is best-known for the way she designed Taylor Swift’s viral Kansas City Chiefs jacket.
The look caught attention worldwide and marked one of the biggest milestones in Juszcyk’s career in fashion design, which features some unique twists.
Juszcyk has taken a huge step in the industry by utilizing her unique level of talent, and was a part of the upcoming Super Bowl assembly of well-known attendees. She recently spoke with us about her plans for the future, living everyday life alongside an NFL football player, her partnerships and more.
Designing Pieces and Process
Like most designers, there is a method and a process that goes into the way Juszczyk designs her pieces.
And, for her specifically, it all stemmed from the natural feeling of creating something that she could not necessarily go out and find herself within an existing brand or store.
“The feeling of what I wanted to wear to a game I couldn't find, and you know my husband's been in the league for 12 years,” she said in an exclusive interview with RG. “He's had such an amazing career, and it really all stemmed from around like six years ago. I was just kind of sick of wearing the same three T-shirts in rotation.”
She says that one day she just picked up her laptop and started watching tutorials on how to sew simple items like sweatpants. The rest is history from that point.
“Then it was kind of just a natural progression from there learning how to do more advanced silhouettes and kind of going from there,” she continued. But I really just got addicted to the feeling of working with my hands and being able to wear something kind of like a trophy.”
Everything that she designs is completely her own, and that show is her unique work between some of her most well-known items like her sports jerseys that can’t be replicated.
Future Plans for the Industry
While her name is well known and, in a way, she is just getting started, Juszczyk has big and exciting plans for the future.
She has been smart about adding on to her business, taking things one small step at a time. That contributes a lot to the overall quality of items.
“It is so important, especially when it comes to offseason, to walk before we run,” she explained.
“For me, we only started with five teams. We didn't want to bite off more than we could chew. We also wanted to make sure the product was perfect.” At the same time, she says that she recognizes her business as a startup and acknowledges that there will be some bumps in the road along the way. But, it has been, so far, so good.
“I do think we've had such really amazing feedback. People are loving the quality of it, which was so important,” she said.
One of her biggest successful projects has been the design and functionality of the puffer jackets she has produced.
“These are puffer jackets, and you know they're meant to be worn in the cold and in those snowy, rainy games,” she said. “I think anyone who's ever been at those games knows how cold and uncomfortable that they can be.”
One of her biggest goals has been to design the jackets with the ability to not only keep people warm, which is the main and essential purpose, but also to make them particularly stylish. Looking at her designs, it is safe to say she has hit the nail on the head.
“It was really important for me to not only make sure people feel good and look beautiful in them, but to also make sure that the quality matched that as well,” she said. “But there is much more to come beyond this.”
Partnership with Invisalign
Juszczyk's talent makes her an appealing person for companies to partner with, and one of the most recent of those is Invisalign. She is currently in her second year of partnering with the company and has personal experience with the brand herself.
“I absolutely love the brand. I really do think that my confidence stems from my smile, and you know there's nowhere I go that my Invisalign aligners don't go with me,” she said.
Juszczyk noted her trust in the brand and how she backs its reliability given the 25 years that it has been around.
“It's amazing to partner with a brand that's so reliable and has had, you know, so many years of research. So they're the most incredible brand to partner with.”
Day in the Life of an NFL Wife
On top of her experience in working in fashion design and partnering with brands, Juszczyk also lives the unique lifestyle of an NFL wife.
It’s a different lifestyle than most typical Americans are accustomed to, but she also notes that the experience between NFL wives themselves are different in their own way among the group as well.
“I think [with each specific NFL player] being an individual in the league, everyone's lives are different. Whether that's a mother or if they have their own career,” she said. “Everyone's life is different.”
Juszczyk says that every day is a new and completely different experience for her.
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She says that sticking to a steady routine isn’t the easiest, which is understandable given just how much she has going on from both a personal and a professional perspective from day to day.
But she would not trade it or give it up for anything.
“We're kind of a little bit all over the place, but I kind of find comfort in chaos. To be honest.”
Crissy Froyd is a sports reporter of over 10 years who specializes in quarterback analysis at the high school, college and NFL level. She was mentored by Mike Leach and learned the Air Raid offense and quarterback evaluation largely under the legendary head coach. Froyd has appeared in and worked with multiple publications, including USA TODAY SMG, Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports and Saturday Down South. She also covers canine journalism for Showsight Magazine and resides in Wisconsin with her three dogs -- two German Shepherds named Faxon and Bo Nix, and one Siberian Husky named Stetson "Balto" Bennett.
