KC fashion designer, a lifelong Chiefs fan, creating custom ‘Kingdom Coats’ for fans
Kansas City designer Christian Micheal Shuster, maker of movie costumes and admirer of French fashion icon Christian Dior, might never have looked to his beloved Kansas City Chiefs for inspiration, even if he did play football in high school and college.
But then Taylor Swift started dating Travis Kelce and showing up at games in designer game-day fits.
Shuster saw the coats NFL wife Kristin Juszczyk made for Swift and Brittany Mahomes from repurposed football jerseys and how “the world just went nuts on these puffer coat things,” he said.
So last year, ahead of playoff season, Shuster designed a custom, oversized parka he named the Kingdom Coat.
He couldn’t make them fast enough to meet demand. So he’s making them again out of a pop-up shop at 112 N. Liberty St. on the Independence Square, still buzzing after the Chiefs Hallmark Christmas movie was filmed there last year.
“I see a lot of people. It’s funny, I put my sewing machines in the front window and have about 10 people a day come into the shop. They literally walk in and ask, ‘What are you doing?’”
He designed the coat “on a whim,” Shuster said. “I looked at (Juszczyk’s coat) and thought to myself — and you know I’ll never discredit an artist for anything they do — she was really just kinda cutting up a jersey and reconstructing it. (I thought), ‘Boy, I’ve got a great design and I do that from scratch, from custom.’”
Over the years outerwear and jackets “have really become my specialty,” said Shuster. “Highly tailored. Well made, guaranteed fit.”
So when he saw Juszczyk’s coat go viral — it led to a newly launched fashion brand of NFL apparel — “I immediately thought to myself I’ve got a great design. So I mocked it up.
“I wanted something that was parka-esque. I knew it would be something worn in the wintertime. I knew it would be something worn at games with layers under it. I didn’t want it to be so heavy though that it wasn’t fashionable.
“I think one thing that Taylor has brought to the NFL is a level of new viewer and customer that wasn’t been there in the past. And fashion is a big part of that. Everybody has a Chiefs T-shirt. Everybody has a Chiefs sweatshirt and a beanie. But a custom, cut from scratch, customizable Kingdom Coat is that fashionable next level that a new audience is open to because of Taylor Swift.”
It takes him “a solid eight to 10 hours” to make each coat, so right now he’s working 12-hour days, six days a week.
“I’m selling them as fast as I can make them,” he said.
Each coat has a front zipper and is lined in 100% cotton, with welt pockets on the outside and one interior pocket. “Pockets are important. I pride myself on my pocket,” he said.
The cuffs are ribbed, a little detail to keep out the Kansas City cold.
The coats come in three colors — Home Red, White Away and Special Black — and can be made short or long. “Most women like the short version,” he said.
Buyers can customize them with their name and a number of their choosing on the back, though Shuster said “85% of my customers get them with ‘Kingdom’ on the back and the number 15. The rest of the people get their last name. I had someone order one with ‘BBQ’ on it.
“I’ve had one person order it with ‘The Goat’ and 15. I really want someone to order one that says three-peat.”
Who is Christian Micheal Shuster?
Custom clothing is Shuster’s wheelhouse. When he’s not making Kingdom Coats, he designs and makes menswear and women’s clothing, and costumes for the film industry, under his christianMICHEAL label.
When he began teaching himself how to sew in 2009 he created a small collection of neckties “that were picked up by Hall’s and four or five local retailers,” he said.
“That allowed me over the next four or five years to have a brand presence in stores locally while I was learning the art of garment construction.”
Making clothing combined his loves of art, drawing and history. As a boy he made drawings of historical military uniforms “and that’s really where my love of garment design and clothing construction came from.”
When he got involved in historical reenactments he decided to make his own costumes. “You can see a lot of my early runway shows had a very military look to them,” he said.
“So I bought a sewing machine and I sat down and I started in menswear. That means two-dimensional patterns, collared button-down shirts, jackets, trousers, tailoring, that type of thing.
“I started buying commercial patterns and going to thrift stores and tearing apart clothes, learning how they were made and spending hundreds and thousands of hours on the sewing machine until I felt confident enough to release my very first runway collection in 2011.
“I really pride myself on the fact that I started as a menswear designer and am a self-taught sewer because tailoring is next level. You can’t fake it. And it made me a better self-taught designer by learning the hardest discipline first.”
Over the years he developed an affinity for a particular diamond-quilted fabric that became his signature fabric. He’s making the Kingdom Coats from it.
“So just like Chanel has boucle or many other major brands have a specific look or fabric they’re known for, diamond-quilted fabric is what I’m known for,” he said.
“I knew I wanted outerwear and to focus on jackets, but when I started to play with the fabric in a non-traditional sense, yeah, it’s great for outwear and coats and things like that, but what if I did a pleated, tulip, pencil skirt that went all the way to the ground in this very heavy, non-traditional fabric?
“I showed it in four or five collections now and ... I have people stop me on a regular basis and say, ‘Oh I saw someone wearing this and I immediately knew it was yours.’ And I really think that’s the greatest compliment for any designer is to have someone immediately see something and know it’s a christianMICHEAL. Tells me I’m doing my job.”
He was “lucky” to find a local source, Fabri-Quilt in North Kansas City. “I really wanted to tout the fact that I am a Midwest designer, a local designer, and I really wanted to keep as much of my sourcing and materials from the area,” he said.
A Chiefs designer? Sort of...
When he began making Kingdom Coats last year, a lot of people warned him to steer clear of violating NFL copyrights. A lawyer walked him through the do’s and don’ts.
He can’t call them “Chiefs” coats, so they’re Kingdom Coats. Just Kingdom Coats, because he can’t use the phrase “Chiefs Kingdom,” either.
He can’t use the Chiefs’ arrowhead logo. No NFL logo. No Super Bowl logo. He can’t put players’ names on them.
“I can use any number. They don’t own their numbers,” he said, which is why he can use Patrick Mahomes’ No. 15 and Travis Kelce’s No. 87.
The coat’s $650 price tag has given some potential customers sticker shock, he said.
“It’s elevated,” he said. “I’m not inexpensive. My coats are $650. But I’ve got about $115 of material cost and they take me at minimum eight hours to make each jacket.
“It’s brought a clientele level from a fashion-dollar spending standpoint that is more than just the regular average NFL fan looking for a hoodie and a beanie.”
The influence Swift has had on fan apparel can’t be overstated, Shuster believes. Chic, stylish gear, especially for women, “has been coming for a while. I think Taylor has a huge part to do with it,” said Shuster, who has been trying to figure out a way to get one of his coats to the superstar.
“I think we’ve also got to give a lot of credit to the Kansas City Chiefs,” said Shuster, who grew up in Lee’s Summit.
“Would this go over well in a town with a team that isn’t doing as well? Would this be as exciting in Chicago where the Bears are not great and haven’t been in a long time?
“I think the resurgence since Patrick and Travis and the entire crew has been here has just elevated the fandom. Fans want something new, they want something unique, they want something that shares a part of the greatness of our team.”
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