NEWS

Steelers' stylish first lady grew up in Morristown

William Westhoven
@WWesthoven

As the wife of the head coach of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, Morristown native Kiya Winston Tomlin knows about sweating the details.

She also knows a thing or two about fashion and is looking forward to seeing her new line of "Uptown Sweats" receive some exposure Wednesday on national television.

A former college premed major, Tomlin says she has been designing and making clothing since she was a 10-year-old living on Cobb Place. Her home was not far from Morristown High School, and she graduated from there in 1992.

"Fashion design was something I had done all my life as a hobby," she said. "It was something that I liked to do in my spare time but never thought about it as a viable career.

"I used to design and make my own clothes. I would make my friends' prom dresses. When I went to college, even though I was studying medicine, I had my sewing machine there and would design and make clothes for my roommate and girls on my gymnastics team. My college coach, she was pregnant one year, and I made all her maternity clothes."

A former competitive gymnast who trained at the Madison YMCA, she met her future husband, Super Bowl-winning Steelers' coach Mike Tomlin, while both were students at the College of William and Mary.

"When we got married after college, he was out a year ahead of me, and had started on his path of coaching football, which I didn't realize was what he wanted to do," she recalled.

Instead of following a path to a medical career, she followed him to the University of Memphis, where he became a graduate assistant and a football coach.

"My understanding was that he was coaching so that it would pay for him to get his master's degree, and he would then go get a real job," she said, "Once I realized he wanted to coach, and what that all entailed, I realized that football and medicine really didn't make for a happy family life."

Shortly thereafter, Mike Tomlin found himself coaching at the University of Cincinnati, where Kiya Tomlin resumed her interest in fashion.

"They had a fashion-design program there, and he was an employee, so I was able to attend for free," she said.

Nearly two decades and three children later, Kiya Tomlin, now an experienced designer, launched Uptown Sweats from a Pittsburgh boutique that doubles as her design studio. Her new line of stylish, upscale fashions is inspired by modern women such as herself who live an active lifestyle that demands both comfort and versatility.

"Today's women are doing it all," she said. "We're working, we're networking, we're raising a family, we're involved in the community, we're traveling. In order to make it easier to get all that done, I wanted to come up with a collection of clothes that doesn't compromise style for comfort. I can have the comfort of feeling like I'm wearing my workout clothes, but I look more elegantly polished."

Some of the Uptown Sweats fashions can be found in Morristown at Cheeks Boutique, but anyone who wants to see and learn more about the line can tune in at 9 p.m. Wednesday to the TV series "Exhale," which airs on the Aspire cable network (Cablevision Morris channel 176). Tomlin will be featured on the episode during a segment about women entrepreneurs. A repeat of the broadcast follows at 10 p.m.

"It's a new line so I'm still getting out there," she said. "There's a few locations in New Jersey, and it is also sold online."

Uptown Sweats are aimed at those age 30 and older.

"It is on the pricier range because the fabrics are quality, and it is made in the United States, so the price reflects that," she said.

The Tomlins' hectic schedule does not allow them to get back to New Jersey often, but she still occasionally gets back to the old neighborhoods. Her mother still lives in Morristown, as does a grandmother in the Collinsville section. She also has several aunts, uncles and cousins in the Morristown area.

"We get there, but not as much as I'd like to," she said.

At home in Pittsburgh, Coach Tomlin is taking on new chores to help free up time so his wife can pursue her own championship aspirations in business.

"In his spare time he is helping with the kids, making dinner, keeping the family up and moving because for so long I was doing all that while he worked," she said. "He's also a great sounding board. Just being in a different industry, with different points of view. He's good at dealing with people, and he has experience doing that. He makes suggestions, and even when they are unsolicited, that's great."

But she is happy to leave the gridiron issues to him while she wields the steam iron in her shop.

"I was not a football fan at all growing up," she said. "I did not watch football at all, understand it or care."

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-428-6627; wwesthoven@GannettNJ.com.