Pitt superfans gear up for another fashionable football season

At Pitt football games, herds of Pitt fans gather in the parking lot of Acrisure Stadium in North Shore, blasting energizing music, playing games and indulging in game day food. Everyone radiates Pitt pride, geared with blue and yellow attire and singing along to Pitt’s football anthem, “Sweet Caroline,” which is played in the third quarter of every football game.

Showing Pitt pride comes in a multitude of ways, but some students and superfans show their school spirit through the power of fashion. 

Carson Zaremski, a Pitt alumnus also known as the Pitt Pope, is a game-day fashion icon. Zaremski attends nearly every football game outfitted in a white robe and Pope hat embellished with the Pitt logo and colors. 

Zaremski graduated from Pitt in December 2021 with a degree in media and professional studies. He said he has remained a diehard Pitt football fan since birth.

“I was born into a Pitt Family, and so I have been going to Pitt football games since I was born,” Zaremski said.

Although he has left the streets of Oakland, Zaremski said his commitment to being the Pitt Pope 一 and supporting the football team 一 stands strong. He said he dreams of working for Pitt Athletics in the future.

“Last year specifically I went to 10 [games] which included the games at Tennessee, Virginia Tech, the ACC Championship in Charlotte and the Peach Bowl in Atlanta,” Zaremski said. “I honestly just bleed blue and gold. I would be a superfan whether we were the best team in the country or the worst.” 

The costume stands out from the sea of blue and yellow T-shirts that many students wear. The Pitt Pope originated as a result of one of Zaremski’s Halloween costumes during his time as a Pitt undergrad. The Pitt Pope is an iteration of other football superfan costumes, he said.

“The Pope was my Halloween costume for Halloween weekend and I added a Pitt aspect to it for the Miami football game,” he said. “I knew about the Steelers Pope and the Auburn Pope, and ‘Pitt Pope’ just has a better ring to it.” 

While being a fashion icon has its benefits, Zaremski said his main goal partaking as the Pitt Pope is to strengthen the football culture and pride at Pitt. 

“Dressing up has its perks, but the best part has to be when I make someone’s day by meeting them, especially kids,” Zaremski said. “That is really what it is all about, is trying to grow the culture here at Pitt. I was considering passing it down, but after asking many people, no one seemed to mind me remaining the Pitt Pope.”

Pitt juniors and roommates Mia Jaffe, Lauren Beaube and Kara Soles have also taken it upon themselves to ensure that other Pitt Athletics fans can support the team 一 and in a fashionable way. 

Beaube, a statistics major, said the three friends loved getting dressed up for games throughout their time at Pitt, but struggled to find cute outfits. They started h2Supply Co. in August of this year 一 their own line of trendy Pitt gear. 

“We didn’t love the way DIY T-shirts looked or fit and we always wished there was a way we could have more stylish options for our game day outfits,” Beaube said. “Our mission is to create cute, lasting clothing that Pitt students can wear to football games, on campus and other sports games.” 

The team started with an extensive Pinterest search, followed by creating mock-ups and finally an Instagram account, according to Beaube. She said they started by gauging interest through friends and followers to decide which designs to release.

“We posted a few of our initial designs and polled our friends and followers on which ones they liked best,” Beaube said. “There were clear favorites and once we figured the ones that were most popular, we pretty much started making our shirts right away.” 

Beaube said she and her friends find most of their fashion inspiration from pieces they wished they had. They design and hand make all of their items in their Oakland apartment, and the shirt styles range in classic cuts, fonts and slogans.

“We created clothing that we would each personally love to wear, and that was a bit more stylish and unique than the t-shirts we were previously buying,” Beaube said. “We make all of our items together at our apartment. We order our shirts from a supplier and use a Cricut machine to cut and press each design onto the shirts.”

Beaube and her friends have already started taking and producing orders for the upcoming football season. Beaube said while h2supply Co.’s merchandise currently caters to females, they aim to grow their market in the future.