Love is in the air between fashion & the NFL 

If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play well. If you play well, they pay well. – Joe Namath, New York Jets QB

What: The NFL announces two fashion firsts

About: Today partnerships are commonplace, and the NFL has “counted labels and designers, including Born x Raised, Veronica Beard, Kith, AAPE, Tyler the Creator’s Golf Wang, Drake’s OVO, Kristin Juszczyk and Emma Grede’s Off Season, Roc Nation, and Cactus Jack, among its recent collaborators.” But it’s a first for the NFL to announce an official fashion partner. It was also a first for the league to announce its first fashion editor.

Perhaps you could argue this was a long time coming. As athletes have become personal brands, it stands to reason personal styling becomes a key fixture in that transformation. Capitalizing on this realization, WNBA teams including New York Liberty, San Francisco’s Golden State Valkyries, and Chicago Sky have all signed partnerships with brands from the fashion, beauty, and travel landscape. The trend extended league-wide when the WNBA made Coach its official handbag partner.

With that in mind, it makes the NFL’s “first-ever” news seem a little more like a “fast follow,” but would you have guessed that Abercrombie & Fitch would be the brand crowned as the NFL’s “official fashion partner” — the company “voted America’s most hated retailer” in 2016? While it’s less surprising that the NFL named an “official fashion partner” given the close connection between fashion and fandom, it is far more fascinating how A&F has made the NFL a new rung in its turnaround ascension.

And borrowing a page from the WNBA’s playbook, this official partnership is set up to dress fans and players alike: Look out for co-designed apparel by “San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins” dropping through A&F later this season via The Style Concierge program “designed to blur the lines between game-day tunnel fits and everyday fashion.”

With some critics arguing that fashion “core” cycles have slowed, could “back to sports” season lead to the return of fall fashion reveals? Only time will tell what looks win over the Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but Abercrombie & Fitch’s partnership with McLaren indicates they’re betting that F1 is also where style points might not make it on the pitboard but count for something.