Connecticut designer behind unique jackets spotted on high-profile athletes
NEW YORK (WTNH) — A Connecticut designer is behind a unique jacket getting a lot of attention recently after two high-profile athletes sported his designs.
Alex Ruffin, 32, has been making jackets and selling them online, but his business got a lot more attention when Jazz Chisholm Jr. wore a specially-made 'Hometown Hero' series jacket, featuring the Knicks on one sleeve and the Rangers on the other.
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The jacket was captured on the jumbotron at Madison Square Garden.
'I'm sitting over here, and I'm like, watching his story,' Ruffin told WABC-TV/Eyewitness News. 'So, I see him on his way to the game and with the jacket because I can tell by the collar, and I'm like, oh my god, he has my jacket on.'
Ruffin also gifted one to Knicks' star guard Jalen Brunson, who wore a 'Madison Square Guardian' jacket before a game.
'I got the photos back, and I was just like, wow, this is crazy,' Ruffin said.
'This is all happening in the same season, by the way, so guys, Chisholm being a big component of the Yankees right now, and Jalen Brunson obviously being the starting point guard for the Knicks. Like, this is something right here that has been, like, beyond humbling. It's an amazing feat,' he continued.
Ruffin told Eyewitness News the accomplishment is one his father, who passed away, would be proud of.
'My dad was big on New York teams and whatnot,' Ruffin said. 'And it kind of rubs off on you, so you grow up and you're like, I'm seeing all of this stuff right here, and it literally just, it's something that sits with you forever.'
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