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Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff Writer
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — As social media erupted Saturday in praise of her NFL fashion designs, Kristin Juszczyk was at home with her husband, Kyle Juszczyk, simultaneously basking in the moment and fretting over what was to become of another piece she had designed that hadn’t yet reached its intended recipient.
While Kristin’s handmade Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes coats arrived and were worn by musician Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes, respectively, another one-of-a-kind design was lost in transit.
Kristin had designed and made a custom Aidan Hutchinson jacket for actor Taylor Lautner. It was supposed to arrive Saturday — a day before the game. But because of weather, it still hadn’t arrived as Sunday’s Los Angeles Rams-Detroit Lions matchup was about to start.
The jacket was sent overnight via FedEx but got stuck in Memphis. Kristin reached out to higher ups and explained the situation so they sent a truck to pick up the jacket in Memphis. Then that truck broke down.
FedEx sent yet another truck, which picked up the jacket and was delivered by carrier to Lautner on the sidelines.
“That whole thing should be a Super Bowl commercial itself,” the San Francisco 49ers fullback said.
And while Kyle promises that his wife will design something for him at “the right moment,” there’s another Kyle on the 49ers who has also taken notice of Kristin’s work. Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said his wife has been wanting an original Juszczyk design but since he doesn’t have a jersey number, it wouldn’t work out.
That doesn’t mean other members of the Shanahan family can’t be involved.
“She’s awesome,” Shanahan said of Kristin. “She does that stuff all the time. My daughter likes to make clothes since she was like 7 years old. So, she’s always sending [Kristin] some stuff too that they try to make. It’s awesome.”
The NFL wild-card weekend offered the nation an opportunity to see Kristin’s designs. A realtor by trade, she opted to pursue her passion for fashion when Kyle signed with the 49ers in 2017.
Since, Kristin has created a brand called Origin and in the past three years focused her efforts on creating custom NFL designs. According to Kyle, Kristin spends up to 20 hours on a single jacket similar to the ones created for Swift, Mahomes and Lautner. There have been times where Kyle has woken up at 3 or 4 in the morning only to find his wife downstairs working on her latest creation.
It’s why Kyle made it a point Saturday to use every avenue possible to ensure his wife received credit for Swift’s jacket. He could be found in the comments section of most social media apps spreading the word about his wife’s work.
“[It was] just pure joy,” Kyle said. “Just to see her get that recognition. She’s been grinding for years now, working so hard. So, I was so happy to see her get her stuff out there, everybody sees it and people recognize that it was hers.”
The fallout of the weekend has brought plenty of attention for the Juszczyks. Kyle said his wife has heard from every media outlet and fashion brand one can imagine. He notes that she was most excited to hear from Vogue, though she has declined media opportunities this week because of the overwhelming number of requests and so she can continue working on more pieces.
Kristin’s Instagram account has gained more than 400,000 new followers since Saturday and, according to Kyle, she’s in the process of sifting through all the newfound opportunities that have come her way.
“She has every option on the table right now,” Kyle said. “She’s going back and forth with a few companies and some good stuff is going to come from it.”