DK Metcalf Explains Wearing Jeans with 200-Plus Stuffed Animals that Felt Like '20 Lbs.' (Exclusive)

DK Metcalf’s bear-y cool ‘fit will be hard to beat!

The Seattle Seahawks wide receiver is no stranger to game-day fashion walks through the tunnels, but his stuffed animal-stitched pants he wore ahead of his team’s Week 7 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons might be his most memorable yet.

When speaking with PEOPLE about his involvement with the NFL’s My Cause My Cleat initiative — where he personally designed shoes for two foundations close to his heart — Metcalf detailed the denim’s unconventional design while also sharing his laid-back approach to his sense of style.

“I was just scrolling through Instagram a year or two ago and they came up,” Metcalf, 26, tells PEOPLE exclusively of the pants, which have more than 200 multicolored stuffed animals sewn onto them. Each leg is covered with a selection of toys such as yellow ducks, green frogs and classic teddy bears.

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DK Metcalf of the Seattle Seahawks.

Tom Hauck/Getty

Metcalf’s first thought after finding custom clothing? “These are great,” he says of the embellished denim. The pants are Le Rêve Nazam, an independent brand based in Virginia, founded by designer and creative director Chad Nazam.

While it’s unclear how much Metcalf spent on the custom jeans, a similar pair is listed on the brand’s website for $650. The pants are unique to say the least, which influenced his decision to get them for himself.

“Nobody else got them so I’m going to get them,” the Seahawk star recalls of his thinking before making the purchase. “Just attach it and let the rest take care of itself.”

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Metcalf paired the plush patterned pants with a white Balenciaga graphic tee and paired it with pink and white Nike sneakers. He added some chain necklaces, a studded watch and Beats headphones as he headed to the locker room ahead of the game.

For a pair of pants hand-stitched with more than 200 stuffed animals, they sure have weight, so much so that the athlete thought they weighed roughly “15 to 20 lbs.” According to the denim description on the site, they weigh a total of 5 lbs.

The most ironic part about this particularly bold look is that Metcalf tells PEOPLE that he doesn’t necessarily consider himself a fashion type. “With some of the people out there, no,” he admits, adding that “there’s a lot of catching up to do.”

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DK Metcalf of the Seattle Seahawks.

Steph Chambers/Getty

The athlete went on to list several of his Seahawk teammates who all have “great style,” like 2023 Rookie of the Year CJ Stroud, wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and running back Gen Smith. “There are a lot of people who have great style and I just try to keep up with them,” he emphasizes.

Now, Metcalf says he works with a stylist for his game-day attire. “His name is Danny Hill,” he reveals, noting that she lives in Dallas, but they both grew up together in Mississippi. “She styles me and another NFL player,” he says.

Speaking of which, does she have a motto she follows when deciding on outfits for herself? “No, I don’t have a motto that I live by,” he says, explaining that his look usually comes about depending on how he “feels that day.”

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In fact, Metcalf says his “mood” often dictates his clothes. “So if I’m wearing a running suit, that means I didn’t have enough energy to put the fit together or if I’m wearing jeans or something,” he explains. “So my style definitely represents how I feel.”

For Metcalf’s latest venture, however, he’s the creative at the helm! The athlete is back for another year of participating in the NFL’s My Cause My Cleat initiative, which has been merging sports and philanthropy since 2016 by inviting fans to connect with players’ personal goals through custom-designed cleats.

This year’s causes that Metcalf is highlighting are Prison Fellowship and Sound. “This is important to me,” he says about his decision to support these two non-profit organizations in this way.

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DK Metcalf designs custom shoes for the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats initiative.

AWS

“I don’t like people to feel like they’re not being heard or left out, so Prison Fellowship spoke to me in terms of not wanting prisoners to feel forgotten or left out,” the NFL star explains.

“I recently learned ASL with Sound and they are a huge support in the deaf community here in Seattle,” he continues. “So I wanted to choose an organization based here in Seattle that has many different branches where they can reach many different communities.”

For the first time in the initiative’s history, athletes used AWS’s generative AI application to customize his boots. “We started by typing in some keywords that meant a lot to the organization,” he says, eventually adding the word “hope” to the back of the shoe.

“The whole vibe of the shoe is very loud and expressive, so people look at the shoe and wonder what’s on those boots and make them take a closer look,” Metcalf says of the shoe’s aesthetic. “These shoes are unique in themselves.”

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Source: HIS Education