Towson Grad Launches

Kristin Juszczyk Partners With Emma Grede to Launch Off Season—A Sports Apparel Brand Born from Juszczyk's Viral DIY Looks

By Camille Freestone, Vogue

“I was sitting in a cold stadium looking around and I'm seeing all these people, mostly men, wearing huge puffer jackets, and they were putting their jerseys over the jackets,” recounts Kristin Juszczyk, wife of San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, of her ah-hah moment. “And that's when the light bulb went off—they're cold, but they’ll do anything to represent their favorite players.” As is the case with many good ideas, it seems obvious in retrospect.

In partnership with serial entrepreneur Emma Grede, Juszczyk launched Off Season January 7—a collection of elevated apparel for sports fans made possible through a collaboration with the NFL Players Association, and available to shop online. They’re starting small; the debut consists of unisex puffers celebrating five NFL teams—the San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions, and Buffalo Bills. Off Season spawned from the DIY ensembles Juszczyk herself wears to the games—for which she has gained quite the following.

The budding designer has been married to Kyle for five years, attending his football games since they met in 2014. “I just got sick of wearing the same three shirts in rotation,” she says. “I got inspired by the lack of options actually.” Juszczyk took her frustration out on Kyle’s old jerseys; she reworked them into NFL-branded equivalents of her day-to-day wardrobes: corsets emblazoned with Kyle’s number (44), bomber jackets with pieces of his high school jersey.

Courtesy of Off Season

Juszczyk, 30, has no technical background in fashion; she graduated from Towson University FINISH READING HERE

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