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The rapidly growing prominence of fashion in sports—and the pervasive, ardent interest in how athletes dress—has prompted the NFL to hire its first-ever fashion editor: stylist Kyle Smith.
In the decades since New York Jets legend Joe Namath became synonymous with audacious fur coats, and Deion Sanders, wearing a mélange of gold chains, famously uttered, “If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play well. If you play well, they pay well,” the NFL has become one of the most fashionable leagues in sports. Cam Newton and Odell Beckham Jr. have both graced the cover of GQ; the league has collaborated on capsule collections with Humberto Leon, Kith, Hugo Boss, and others; Stefon Diggs and Tyrod Taylor are regulars at Paris Fashion Week; and Instagram accounts like Blitzfits, More Than Stats, and ProTrending intently document players’ arrival looks: a sea of Balenciaga, Fear of God, Prada, Rick Owens, and Rhude, often accented with Rimowa suitcases, oversized Birkins, and Louis Vuitton duffels. Earlier this year, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson walked in Vogue World: Paris after attending several spring 2025 menswear shows. The stylist who accompanied them on the trip and also styles Burrow’s game-day looks? Smith.
“One of my first big breaks was working with Karla Welch, who styles Justin Bieber, Lorde, and Sarah Paulson,” Smith tells Vogue, naming just a few of Welch’s A-list clients, “so I started my career with celebrity styling and being in that world of red carpet.” Like many budding fashion professionals, Smith explored various facets of the industry, including writing for Flaunt magazine and working in the Amiri PR department. Later, he was hired as a stylist for NFL Network. “That’s where I started noticing a lot of athlete fashion,” Smith says. “Styling for the network was dressing hosts—it was not Justin Bieber’s red-carpet moments. But I would be on set watching the hosts talk about players, and they would show these tunnel walks.” As impressive as the stats rattled off in each segment were, Smith felt something missing from the broadcasts. “I would be like, ‘Guys, they’re wearing full Gucci right now. They’re wearing a full runway ’fit, and no one’s talking about it.’ This was in 2019. From that point, I became really interested in sports and the intersection of sports and fashion.”
When Smith’s role at NFL Network ended during COVID—“styling is not very COVID-friendly,” he says—he launched the Instagram account PlayTheLook, which he used to document player fashion. “The end goal [was to] show the NFL, look, people care about fashion—your fans care about what players are wearing,’” he says of his motivation. While the account only amassed a few hundred followers, many players engaged with his content, often sending DMs about forthcoming looks and thanking Smith for his coverage. The league noticed and initially tapped Smith in late 2021 to work on various marketing, social media, and experiential projects.
“Last season, the Cleveland Browns were in town, so I basically shut down Rodeo Drive [for] private shopping experiences with the team, going from store to store,” Smith offers as an example of his previous work with the NFL. Another was amplifying Saquon Barkley’s runway debut at the fall 2024 Hermès show in New York to the NFL audience. Last month Smith joined the league full-time as fashion editor.
“Kyle has been a big part of our team, and we’re thrilled to appoint him as the NFL’s fashion editor, a first-of-its-kind role for us at the league,” Ian Trombetta, NFL senior vice president of social, influencer, and content marketing, shared with Vogue in an email. “Kyle’s appointment underscores our larger marketing focus to modernize and lean into passion points of youth audiences, with fashion playing a huge role in this effort and how we stay at the forefront of culture.” The appointment, Trombetta says, adds to the league’s “helmets-off strategy,” which aims to highlight causes players care about and their hobbies, as well as what they like to wear. “We provide a platform for them and help to build their respective brand identities.”
In his new role, LA-based Smith helps run the official NFL and NFL Style Instagram accounts; captures and coordinates getting-ready content in players’ homes; and works with agents to help forge and manage relationships between athletes and various fashion houses. “Some days I’m in the office, some days it’s me just meeting with a player individually, talking to them about their personal life experiences and how they can tell that story through their clothing,” Smith says. “I always ask them what the first concert they attended was and if they have a T-shirt of that band or singer. Your favorite band on your T-shirt is such a digestible way [for] a fan to connect to you.”
The 2024–2025 NFL season currently underway has seen countless players flex their sartorial prowess. Jefferson arrived at the season opener in an Off-White look moments after it debuted on the runway. Cleveland Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is using game day to highlight his Ghanaian roots, dressing in traditional African clothing, as he did last season. “Ray-Ray McCloud is someone I look out for every week,” says Smith of the Atlanta Falcons wide receiver. “He just has such a great sense of style, and he plays with silhouettes in a way that I don’t think a lot of other players do.” One brand players have been gravitating toward is Diallo, which Taylor launched with his longtime stylist Dex Robinson last year.
“They want to do more than just put on clothes,” Smith says of the league’s most style-enthused players. “They want to be shapers of fashion.” As the NFL’s first fashion editor, he’ll be instrumental in making that happen.
