The Super Bowl Tunnel Runway: Where Fashion Meets Football
On Sunday night, the Seattle Seahawks triumphed over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX, while Bad Bunny delivered a spectacular halftime performance. Yet, beyond the on-field action, a subtle fashion statement captured attention: multiple players walked from the car park to the dressing rooms carrying identical logo'd bags from the luxury French brand Goyard.
The Rise of the 'Unicorn Bag' in Sports Culture
This Goyard bag, not part of any official uniform and largely unknown outside its exclusive 0.1% customer base, has become a ubiquitous status symbol among American football players. It joins other luxury items like AirPods Max headphones and Richard Mille watches in what insiders call the "brave new world of tunnel fits." Fashion has evolved into a crucial component of athlete identity, with professionals increasingly opting for codified displays of wealth.
Most primetime NFL game coverage now begins hours before kick-off, as photographers, fans, and pundits scrutinize players' sartorial choices with the same intensity as their on-field performances. Iconic looks range from Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in tailored tiger-print suits to eccentric Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins arriving barefoot in a full prison jumpsuit complete with leg cuffs. Former quarterback Cam Newton is arguably the greatest of all time in this genre, renowned for his colourful suits, oversized hats, and statement glasses.
The Business Behind Tunnel Fashion
The concept of the tunnel fit has spawned a cottage industry of stylists and brands collaborating with players to ensure they appear game-ready and capitalize on the immense visibility these moments generate. Last year, Abercrombie & Fitch secured a multimillion-dollar brand partnership with the NFL, reportedly in response to Travis Kelce endorsing American Eagle. Player arrival posts on the @nfl Instagram account routinely garner over 100,000 likes, highlighting the commercial potential.
This trend has even migrated to the English Premier League, with Liverpool arriving for a match against Newcastle last month in head-to-toe Tommy Hilfiger. However, the Super Bowl elevates it to another level, functioning as a Met Gala for men, especially with A-listers like Taylor Swift—fiancée of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce—joining the makeshift catwalk.
Goyard: Exclusivity and Craftsmanship
Founded in 1853, Goyard operates just 30 boutiques worldwide and refuses to sell online, making its bags genuinely difficult to acquire even for those who can afford them. To purchase one, a visit to a boutique in person is required, with no guarantee of stock availability.
The most popular styles among NFL players include the Saïgon pouch, a clutch-style bag priced between £800 and £1,200, and the Bellechasse, a crossbody or bum bag ranging from £1,500 to £2,000. Each features Goyard's signature canvas, hand-painted by artisans in the brand's Parisian workshop—a painstaking process that adds to both mystique and price. While expensive, these bags are notably cheaper than Hermès Birkins, which can cost from £8,000 to over £200,000.
Fashion insiders have dubbed the Goyard a "unicorn bag," a term originally applied to impossibly rare Hermès Birkins in unusual colours but now expanded to describe any handbag that is rarely advertised and unavailable online.
Symbolism and Player Adoption
At this year's Super Bowl, the most telling detail wasn't just that players carried Goyards, but which players did so. New England Patriots offensive tackles Morgan Moses and Will Campbell both clutched Goyard pouches upon arrival. Offensive tackles are among the least glamorous positions in American football—massive, workmanlike protectors whose primary role is to keep the quarterback upright. They typically don't handle the ball, score touchdowns, give post-match interviews, or earn as much as quarterbacks or wide receivers.
In 2024, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray made headlines by gifting designer bags, including Goyards, to his offensive linemen for Christmas, legitimizing the item as a staple across all levels of the league. Since then, Goyard has become standard among professional athletes, with Premier League footballers like Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford leading the trend.
Why Athletes Embrace Goyard
Professional athletes, particularly NFL players, have embraced Goyard for several reasons. Practically, these are large individuals who require spacious bags to carry toiletries, recovery gels, and chargers for long days at the stadium. The bags are genuinely unisex and lack obvious branding, making them easy to style with various outfits and serving as a subtle flex. This aligns with the quiet luxury, old-money aesthetic that has dominated fashion recently.
This shift toward practical luxury marks a broader evolution in how NFL players approach fashion. While player attire has been scrutinized for decades, it became a serious cultural force in the early 2010s with millennial athletes who recognized style as an extension of their personal brand and a means of generating off-field income. They began collaborating with professional stylists and fashion brands, treating game-day arrivals as content opportunities.
For Generation Z athletes who grew up idolizing pioneers like Cam Newton and Odell Beckham Jr.—known for a brasher aesthetic influenced by hip-hop and skate culture—this trend has only accelerated. Social media ensures every arrival is dissected online, and access to luxury brands has never been easier.
Travis Kelce and the Global Fashion Outlook
No one better reflects the league's pivot toward a more global, fashion-conscious outlook than Travis Kelce. A savvy dresser since entering the league in 2014, he watched from the sidelines on Sunday in a £1,800 Fear of God blazer and Chrome Hearts sunglasses—a cult brand popularized by Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner wearing matching head-to-toe orange leather outfits at a premiere.
While young millionaires reaching for status symbols is nothing new, the ubiquity of the Goyard bag reflects Generation Z's preference for "if you know, you know" displays of wealth. These bags are practical, prestigious, and universally recognized by peers while remaining relatively opaque to outsiders. In a landscape where fashion has become as essential to athlete identity as on-field performance, unicorn bags have seamlessly integrated into the game-day uniform.
