April 23, 2025
Contact: Cary Littlejohn, 573-882-8369, carylittlejohn@missouri.edu
Photos by Abbie Lankitus, Rosemary Frank

The pulsating rhythms of sewing machines could be heard just outside the door of the University of Missouri’s Gwynn Hall classroom 112 on a Tuesday afternoon. Inside, Kerri McBee-Black’s students were turning unused and long-forgotten pieces of Mizzou athletics apparel into one-of-a-kind garments.

“Upcycling and recycling of clothing is really a consistent trend among our college students,” McBee-Black, assistant professor and Helen Allen Faculty Fellow of Textile and Apparel Management, said. “They’re thinking more sustainably about the way they consume apparel.”

The 2024 Super Bowl also influenced the trend, when San Francisco 49er Kyle Juszczyk’s wife, Kristin, capitalized on newfound fame as a fashion designer of unique pieces, including jackets and vests made from NFL jerseys. Kristin’s designs took off earlier that season after she gave Taylor Swift a puffer jacket made from the jersey of her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs’ star Travis Kelce, and Swift wore the jacket to a game to worldwide acclaim.