National Football League

NFL launching women's clothing line

Published Sep. 28, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Are you ready for some fashion? A brand-new women’s NFL fashion line launches this week — and for the first time wives of famous players and coaches are modeling the clothes, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

The “Fit for You” collection is targeted toward 29-to-40-year-old females, although it is expected to score big with all women — a growing market that makes up 44 percent of NFL fans. And fashionable football lovers will relate to the real models, a spokeswoman said.

“We see models, and we’re not sure how to relate it to our own lives,” says Michelle Tannenbaum, who is married to Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum. “Now we see these women who are smart, strong and great role models for women.”

Twenty NFL wives participated in the campaign, along with one notable Giants superfan, actress Alyssa Milano, who is also a designer for the collection, along with Reebok and VF Corp.

Michelle Ryan, Jets coach Rex Ryan’s wife, models a $32 split-neck T-shirt by Reebok with an NFL logo. Other high-profile mannequins include October Gonzalez, who is married to Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez, and Christy Cooley, the wife of Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley.

“The wives who participated in the campaign said, ‘This is so great. I never knew how to dress this jersey up,’” reveals Tracey Bleczinski, the NFL’s vice president of apparel.

The new “Fit for You” clothing line is a departure from typical women’s sports apparel, which for the past decade has used a “shrink it and pink it” philosophy: Take a man’s jersey and make it smaller and girly-colored.

The new collection features thousands of new products including logoed jeans, branded yoga mats and even a purse made of recycled license plates. The items are cut, fit and geared toward women versus the standard, classic, oversized gear.

Bleczinski says the NFL’s women’s apparel business has doubled since 2004, and increased “twelve-fold since 2001.” Although she wouldn’t reveal figures, she added that women’s clothes are a quarter the size of the men’s business.

“We’ve taken the approach that we have the right products for women and now have products that fit them,” Bleczinski says of the line. “We’re tapping into fast fashion.”

The line, which will be stocked in 3,000 stores nationwide this fall, including Victoria’s Secret, will also offer juniors and maternity sizes for the first time.