Written by: Bobby Trendz
Editor-at-Large, AoD Magazine | September 02, 2025

In a world that often demands singular focus, James Vaughters is rewriting the narrative. As a current CFL linebacker and the newly appointed Men’s Style Editor at AoD Magazine, Vaughters is balancing game-day grit with off-field creativity—proving that athletes can be both visionaries and curators of culture.

In this candid conversation with Editor-in-Chief Bobby Trendz, Vaughters opens up about the evolution of his personal style, his approach to styling NFL star Solomon Thomas, and what it means to challenge industry boundaries while still at the top of his game.

Bobby Trendz: You’re actively playing in the CFL while building a career in fashion—how do you balance the demands of professional football with your creative pursuits?

James Vaughters: The goal when balancing pro football and my creative pursuits is priority management. I say goal because it’s never perfect. As a husband and father I always put my family first. My wife and my son deserve my mental and emotional availability before anything. Then comes my obligation to my football club and my teammates to train properly all off-season and perform at a high level every weekend in the Fall.

What’s specifically advantageous about American football in comparison to other major sports like basketball, baseball, and soccer is that the physical demands only allow us to play games 6 months out of the year. With a 6-month season and 6-month off-season, I do my best to be intentional about developing my point of view outside of the sport when I have the time. Originally I just wanted to be ready to pursue a career I was passionate about after I finished playing football, but the longer I play the more I explore art history, architectural history, music, film, photography, fashion, etc. So I use the point of view I’ve developed during my off-seasons to influence my creative pursuits. What I feel most blessed by is the fact that creative opportunities have begun to present themselves while I’m still playing.

Trendz: What skills or mindsets from your football career have helped you navigate the fashion and creative industries?

Vaughters: I’ve always believed football to be a great metaphor for life and for art. As a player, it took years for me to hone the craft and master the fundamental techniques of my position. Once I mastered the technique, it became a competition of creativity, strategy, and resilience. The same way artists and fashion designers pull references and influence from a wide range of sources, athletes do the same. Every season, I’m analyzing the greatest players at my sport and other sports to try to better understand biomechanics, training regimens, and dietary adjustments. I believe athletics and art to be two of the most fundamental pillars for mental and emotional health. Ironically, they are also both multi-trillion dollar worldwide industries. That presents its own realm of pressures.

Trendz: Your work extends beyond styling—you’re also developing creative partnerships and working in photography. What draws you to these different forms of creative expression?

Vaughters: Most simply put, it just feels good to create and improve. I grew up drawing with my older brother. I was never as good as him, and it would frustrate me, but I would still do it because I saw my own improvement from the repetition. In school, kids who didn’t know my brother thought I had a special talent for drawing, which I may have, but to me it was from repetition. I was accustomed to a feeling of observing, appreciating, attempting, and improving, always knowing someone was better than me. I think that experience fueled my commitment to my football training, and now, how I approach other forms of creative expression.

Trendz: Who or what has influenced your approach to fashion, and how do you see yourself uniquely blending sports and style in your journey?

Vaughters: My approach to fashion is most influenced by my love for architecture, specifically minimalism. I relate my perspective on fashion to Mies van der Rohe’s mantra “Less is more” or Dieter Rams’ “Less is better.” In architecture the minimalist movement shifted the focus from ornamentation to simplistic design that focused on the details: clean lines, texture, quality materials, and liminal space. Minimalism in design is the idea that simplicity and functionality can also be beautiful. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I feel self-conscious because fashion has such potential for the romantic, grandiose, and avant-garde, but I enjoy the versatility and comfort minimalism brings. My career has required me to move from city to city so much that I treat my closet the way I treat home decor. Whether I’m in a fashion hub or in a small city in Canada, I hope my style can elevate the space I’m in without disturbing it.

Trendz: You’ve styled NFL star Solomon Thomas—what was your vision for his looks, and how do you approach styling athletes who want to refine their brand and style?

Vaughters: My approach to styling is client centric. For Solomon, we built a wardrobe. Solomon, like myself, is a defensive lineman. I use my knowledge of brands that produce clothing in extended sizing to establish a baseline of quality essentials that he can wear for the variety of events he attends throughout the year. Beyond the essentials, we invest in statement pieces. Solomon prefers traditional silhouettes so I present him with pieces that are unique in structure, texture, fabric, or color. In terms of my approach, style has the power to affect how we occupy space; both how we feel in a space and how we’re received. My priority is to always preserve clients’ authenticity while simultaneously assisting them in expanding the way they experience varying spaces.

Trendz: As AoD’s new Men’s Style Editor, what fresh perspectives do you want to bring to men’s fashion, and how do you see your role shaping how men engage with style?

Vaughters: I want to use my voice to make a meaningful and unique contribution to the ongoing conversation around Men’s fashion. Among men, I find clothing to be very paradoxical. In my experience, ‘style’ is accepted as something fundamental that every person either has or needs to navigate the world, but if the word ‘fashion’ is used, all of a sudden clothing and style become something to be trivialized. Like any industry, the fashion industry is meant to push the needle forward in the world of clothing. My goal is to cultivate a conversation around Men’s fashion that clarifies the relationship between fashion and the rest of the world, and also to bring new attention to fashion and style beyond their appearances in pop culture.

Trendz: Athletes are becoming more influential in the fashion space—what shifts are you noticing in how sports and style intersect, and where do you see this movement going?

Vaughters: I’ve noticed a shift in how both the fashion industry and the world of athletics perceive athlete interactions with clothing. I don’t mean to make sweeping statements about entire industries but there was a time when it seemed the fashion industry was flattered by athletes wearing designer clothing, but didn’t see it as useful. In the same vein, the world of athletics seemed to feel an athlete’s interest in fashion was a distraction from performance. Fast forward to 2025, and both industries are beginning to acknowledge the marketing opportunity sports interacting with fashion presents. Any statement predicting exactly where this movement is going would be limiting, because there is no limit. All I can say is that I hope athletes continue to expand beyond their sport, control their own narrative, and enter spaces they are passionate about, whether they feel welcome or not.

Trendz: What does the theme “Shifting Paradigms” mean to you, and how does it reflect how you’re expanding your career beyond football?

Vaughters: To me, “Shifting Paradigms” is about forging paths that don’t necessarily have a blueprint. Becoming an NFL Player was always my dream, and it has a sort of blueprint: High School, D1 College, NFL Combine, NFL Draft, Professional. After not getting invited to the Combine, and a season-ending injury as a rookie on the Green Bay Packers’ practice team, I had a decision to make. I could either give up on the dream or forge my own path to becoming an NFL player. I decided on the latter. As difficult as it was, it was liberating to manifest a dream in an unorthodox way. It’s the way I approach everything in my life now. So as I begin to forge a path in the creative space, I revel the opportunity to build a bridge between athletics and art that doesn’t have a clear-cut path. There’s less pressure to expect a linear progression and more freedom to create on my own terms.

Trendz: Breaking into a new industry while still excelling in football is no small feat—what challenges have you faced in gaining credibility in fashion, and how are you overcoming them?

Vaughters: For me, the challenge in gaining credibility in fashion as a pro football player is finding a community. I always felt the way to become part of an art community was to have something tangible to offer. I started with photography: architecture, landscape, etc. When I had the means I invested in my own wardrobe, but I never got any closer to finding a community until I met my wife. As a model and influencer she taught me about how she used social media to build her own community. As I’ve said, I love to try new forms of art but I was hesitant about sharing it, because I didn’t really know how. Getting art noticed is as much about storytelling as it is creating it. I think the best way for me to continue to gain credibility in fashion is to improve the ways I use my art to tell a story.

Trendz: Looking ahead, how do you envision your dual career evolving? What impact do you want to make in football and fashion in the future?

Vaughters: In the future I hope to continue to grow. In my 11th year as a pro football player I still see myself growing in my process and learning new things all the time. Football has allowed me to provide for myself, for my family, inspire others, travel, and experience life in a tumultuous but extraordinary way. Before any of that, football was and always will be an art that I love. I aim for my career as a creative to be the same. As I step into new roles in the creative space, I look forward to approaching them with the same vigor and tenacity to which I’m accustomed.

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