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NFL and New York Giants stars, Sterling Shepard and Romeo Okwara attended the NFLxFIT event clad in the latest designs by the contest finalists.
Over the past 8 months, 11 teams of FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) students worked tirelessly on a new series of graphic elements and treatments for all 32 NFL clubs, inspired by their logos and fan cultures. On Tuesday, April 18th, the NFL and FIT held a special event to announce the winner, Team Quicksnap, who won based on innovative designs that worked well across multiple product executions. The event was set in the FIT lobby and museum and featured a mix of history and the future with the Lombardi Trophy, vintage NFL gear, and the latest designs and samples from the students on display.
In addition to the students, the NFLxFIT also had 2 New York Giants players in attendance, Sterling Shepard and Romeo Okwara. Fresh from the first day of voluntary workouts for this upcoming season, both players donned the designs of the contest finalists and spoke about how they got involved in the process and their own personal style. In an interview with Sterling Shepard, he told me that “Fans will fall in love with these designs”. Shepard spent his offseason globetrotting and commented that the best place he visited was the Maldives. On why, he enjoyed the Maldives so much, Shepard remarked “I love the water and the heat. The water was so clear, I could see my toes from waist deep water, so it doesn’t get much better than that.” Also, with the NFL draft less than a week away, Shepard had some advice for the new class of rookies “Come in and be yourself, be who you’ve been throughout college and everything will work out. Stay focused because there is a lot that will come at you during your first year.”
Aside from bragging rights amongst their classmates, Team Quicksnap won a grand prize of $15,000 and best of all, their designs will be featured on NFL merchandise this upcoming season. When asked how it will feel to see their designs in stores and stadiums, the students told me “It will be like seeing your baby grow into an adult”. Another student mentioned how “unbelievable it will be to finally get designs off of their computer screens and into real life”.
As Sterling Shepard told me and I know Team Quicksnap would agree, “We can’t wait for Sundays to come back”
