DK Metcalf Explains Sporting Denims with 200-Plus Stuffed Animals (Unique)

It’s going to be powerful to high DK Metcalf’s bear-y cool ‘match! 

The Seattle Seahawks extensive receiver is not any stranger to fashion-forward tunnel walks on recreation day, however his stuffed-animal stitched pants worn forward of his workforce’s week 7 matchup towards the Atlanta Falcons is likely to be his most memorable one but. 

When talking with PEOPLE about his involvement within the NFL’s My Trigger My Cleat initiative — the place he personally designed sneakers for 2 foundations near his coronary heart — Metcalf detailed the denim’s unconventional design, whereas additionally sharing his laid-back method to his sense of fashion.  

“I used to be simply scrolling on Instagram a yr or two in the past and so they popped up,” Metcalf, 26, tells PEOPLE completely of the pants which have practically 200-plus, multicolored stuffed animals sewn throughout them. Every leg is roofed with an assortment of toys like yellow geese, inexperienced frogs and traditional teddy bears. 

Metcalf’s preliminary thought upon discovering the {custom} garment? “These are cool,” he says of the decked-out denim. The pants are Le Rêve Nazam, an impartial model based mostly in Virginia and based by designer and inventive director Chad Nazam. 

Whereas it’s unclear how a lot Metcalf spent on the {custom} denims, an identical pair is listed on the model’s web site for $650. The pants are distinctive, to say the least, which is what influenced his resolution to snag ‘em for himself. 

“No person else received them so I will go forward and get them,” the star Seahawk recollects of his thought course of forward of buying. “Simply put it with a match and let the remaining handle itself.” 

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Metcalf paired the plush-patterned pants with a white Balenciaga graphic tee and paired it with pink-and-white Nikes. He accessorized with a number of chain necklaces, a studded watch and topped it off with Beats headphones as he made his solution to the locker room forward of the sport. 

For a pair of pants hand-stitched with over 200 stuffed animals, certainly they’ve weight to them, a lot that the athlete thought they weighed roughly “15 to twenty lbs.” In accordance with the denim’s description on the location, they weigh 5 lbs complete.

Probably the most ironic half about this significantly daring look, Metcalf tells PEOPLE that he doesn’t essentially contemplate himself a fashion-forward man. “With a number of the individuals on the market, no,” he admits, including that he has “quite a lot of catching as much as do.” 

The athlete went on to record a number of of his Seahawk teammates who all have “nice fashion,” like 2023 Rookie of the 12 months C.J Stroud, wide-receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and quarterback Geno Smith. “There’s lots of people who’ve nice fashion and I simply attempt to sustain with them,” he emphasizes. 

Now, Metcalf says he works with a stylist for his recreation day outfits. “Her identify is Danny Hill,” he reveals, noting that she lives in Dallas however they each grew up in Mississippi collectively. “She types me and one other NFL participant,” he says.

As for whether or not he has a specific motto he lives by when deciding on outfits for himself? “No, I haven’t got a motto I dwell by,” he says, explaining his seems to be normally come about relying on how he’s “feeling that day.” 

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In reality, Metcalf says his “temper” typically dictates his outfits. “So if I am carrying a jogging go well with, that signifies that I did not have sufficient power to place collectively a match or if I’ve denims or one thing,” he explains. “So my fashion undoubtedly represents how I am feeling.” 

For Metcalf’s newest enterprise, although, he’s the inventive at helm! The athlete’s again for an additional yr of involvement within the NFL’s My Trigger My Cleat initiative, which has fused sports activities and philanthropy since 2016 by inviting followers to attach with gamers’ private causes through custom-designed cleats.  

This yr the causes Metcalf is highlighting are Jail Fellowship and Sound. “That is necessary to me,” he says of his resolution to assist these two non-profit organizations on this means.

“I do not like individuals feeling like they’re unheard or feeling forgotten, so Jail Fellowship spoke to me in that sense to the place I do not need prisoners feeling forgotten or being disregarded,” the NFL star explains. 

“And with Sound, I lately realized ASL and so they’re a giant supporter within the deaf group right here in Seattle,” he continues. “So I needed to select a company that was based mostly right here in Seattle that had quite a lot of totally different arms to the place they might attain quite a lot of totally different communities.”

For the primary time within the historical past of the initiative, the athletes used AWS’s generative AI app to customise his cleats. “We began off by typing some key phrases that meant rather a lot to the group,” he says, finally including the phrase “hope” to the again of the shoe.

“The general vibe of the shoe could be very loud and expressive, so individuals take a look at the shoe and marvel what’s on that cleat and make them look nearer,” Metcalf says of the sneakers’ aesthetic. “These sneakers are distinctive on their very own.”