Travis Kelce’s Suit Stylist Spills the Secret Behind the NFL Star’s Signature Hand-Hold Red Carpet Pose: ‘Genius’ (Exclusive)

Travis Kelce knows how to work it.

As a three-time Super Bowl winner, there’s no denying that the Kansas City Chiefs tight end has strategy behind his every move on the football field. But when it comes to his fashion-forward moves when he steps off of it, Kelce’s strategy takes a stylized turn.

Ahead of the Chiefs’ anticipated return to the playoffs, Kelce’s longtime suit stylist Tom Marchitelli speaks with PEOPLE about his past experiences dressing the NFL star and reveals the secret behind his signature red carpet pose.

Marchitelli has known Kelce, 35, for years — or as he puts it, “Before he was a household name” — having first worked with him in 2016. At the time, Marchitelli recalls crafting the athlete “a suit for every road game” with a total of approximately “eight suits that season.”

The sought-after sports stylist returned the following season to collab with Kelce, who he praises nearly a decade later for his “creative design ideas” and the “influential” effect he has on the style scene today.

In fact, Marchitelli cites Kelce for his booming custom bomber jacket requests to date.

Kelce has become known for his bold fashion choices when he isn’t padded up. (See his crushed-velvet cargo pants he wore for his pre-game tunnel walk or the infamous NSFW Jacquemus button-down he donned on date night with his girlfriend Taylor Swift, for example).

The football pro has also solidified his status as a red carpet staple at notable events across sports and entertainment, between prestigious athletic achievement awards like the ESPYs and the NFL Honors, as well as Hollywood’s hottest soirées, such Vanity Fair‘s Oscar afterparty and movie premieres.

The designer suits and fit-to-a-tee tailoring seen on Kelce when he steps out at these events is nonetheless noteworthy when captured in pictures — and according to Marchitelli, it’s because of his well-thought-out pose.

“When Travis stands on the red carpet, he always has his hands centered and rubs them,” Marchitelli points out. “I asked him one day. I’m like, ‘Why do you do that?’ ”

“And [Kelce is] like, ‘Well, guys don’t know what to do with their hands. And if you put your hands in the middle like that, it accentuates the cut of the suit’,” he remembers the athlete explaining of the strategy, which he says he thought was “genius” of him to do.

“And now I always do it in my fit check videos,” Marchitelli admits.

There’s one particular photo of Kelce doing the pose that stands out to the custom designer the most, given that he dressed him for the event. “It’s a royal blue [suit]. It’s actually my favorite picture I’ve ever seen of him on a red carpet,” Marchitelli tells PEOPLE.

Since first working together in 2016, Marchitelli has gone on to style Kelce for numerous red carpets. But if there’s one thing the designer is sure to make clear, it’s how their initial collaboration came to be.

“I’m so proud to say that Travis slid into my DMs,” Marchitelli says proudly.

“Travis was really close with one of my baseball clients, Eric Hosmer, who that year won the World Series with the Kansas City Royals. So they were tight,” he recalls, further explaining that a suit worn by the MLB player caught the eye of the NFL star.

“[Hosmer] gave [Kelce] my Instagram and Kelce DMed me,” continues Marchitelli. “I said, ‘Oh, you in KC?’ And he said, ‘No, I’m going to be in New York tomorrow. Does that work for you?’ ”

Coincidentally, it did, being that Marchitelli was at his pace in New Jersey — and not traveling around the country catering to his 500 clients across the NFL, MLB, NBA and beyond — at the time of Kelce’s call.

“So I just went to his hotel the next day. The rest is history,” he says.

Marchitelli is now looking forward to February, when he’ll make his return to the Super Bowl alongside the clients he locks in for the biggest weekend in football.

Though his full roster is pending as the remaining NFL teams go head-to-head in the playoffs, he’s confident he’ll be busy.

“I’m a hustler. I’m grinding every day,” Marchitelli says.

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Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs have their sights set on Super Bowl weekend, as they attempt to become the first team to three-peat in NFL history. (The Chiefs secured two consecutive NFL Championship wins in 2023 and 2024.)

The Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Houston Texans in their first playoff game on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 4:30 p.m. EST.