How a Fashion Editor Joined the N.F.L. How a Fashion Editor Joined the N.F.L.
The New York Times
Kyle Smith’s job isn’t quite like any other in professional sports.
Growing up, Kyle Smith did not like sports.
“I was scared of the boys in sports,” said Mr. Smith, 31, who is gay. He described himself as the type of teen who was way more interested in watching “The September Issue,” the documentary about the inner workings of Vogue.
Mr. Smith, who was born in Connecticut and raised in Los Angeles, was reflecting on his teenage years over coffee last month at the Hotel Alfred Sommier in Paris. He was in town attending the men’s wear shows for the first time since being named the first-ever fashion editor of the National Football League.
He started the job last fall with a directive to use fashion and style to reach new audiences through the league’s media platforms. Mr. Smith works with athletes to create and share content — photos or videos of them showcasing their off-duty style at events like men’s fashion week — and helps players and teams build relationships with traditional fashion media brands like GQ and Vogue.
At Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, he will be part of a team covering what players and other notable attendees wear to the game during a new red-carpet segment that will air as part of the streamer Tubi’s Super Bowl broadcast. When he is not traveling, Mr. Smith, who still lives in Los Angeles, works mostly at the N.F.L.’s West Coast office next to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
While the N.B.A., N.H.L., M.L.B. and M.L.S. have also been focusing more attention on athletes’ style as the industries of fashion and sports have become more intertwined, those leagues have yet to underscore that focus by creating a job with the word “fashion” in its title.
