Este Haim Says 'Genius' Taylor Swift Came Up with the Idea for Custom Knicks Shirts (Exclusive)

Ilana KaplanTue, June 23, 2026 at 2:00 PM UTC

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Alana Haim, Taylor Swift and Este Haim in June 2026 in New York CityCredit: Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty -

Este Haim calls Taylor Swift a "genius" for coming up with custom Knicks T-shirts

"Seeing other people embrace the idea was really fun," she tells PEOPLE

Swift, Este and her sister Alana Haim all rocked blue T-shirts with orange font featuring pop culture puns at Game 4 of the NBA Finals on June 10

Este Haim is opening up further about the custom Knicks T-shirts she, Taylor Swift and sister Alana Haim recently wore.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the HAIM bassist and vocalist reveals how they created the DIY blue shirts with orange text, featuring pop culture puns for Game 4 of the NBA Finals on June 10.

"Taylor is a genius," Este, 40, says of Swift, 36. "She was the one that came up with the idea, and Alana was the one that executed it. I just was the body, the vessel that housed the shirt."

Este, who sported a shirt emblazoned with "Knickole Kidman" in honor of Nicole Kidman when the New York Knicks faced off against the San Antonio Spurs, recalls how the trio "had an entire campaign about how much we love Nicole Kidman."

"I mean, it's no secret that we love her, we're huge fans of hers," she adds. "And it kind of lent itself to the T-shirt. It was the first name that came to mind when we were all brainstorming what Knicks-themed names we would use."

Ultimately, Este was excited by how the general public reacted to their custom merch. (Swift wore a shirt that featured "Stevie Knicks" in honor of Stevie Nicks and Alana's shirt said "Knickleback" for Nickelback.)

Taylor Swift, Alana Haim and Este Haim in June 2026 in N.Y.C.Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn

"Seeing other people embrace the idea was really fun," she says.

After Este wore her "Knickole Kidman" shirt to the game, Kidman, 58, shared a photo of Este, Taylor and Alana, 34, on the jumbotron to Instagram Stories with the text, "Right there with you girls! 🏀💞."

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The Big Little Lies star also reposted the Haim sisters' Instagram Reel of them singing along to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," with Swift. "My girls! I just wanna have fun!" Kidman wrote at the time.

Following the Knicks game on June 10, Alana's rep confirmed to The Cutthat she created the custom tees.

Per Vogue, The Drama actress bought the Gildan shirts from Michaels for $2.99 each and applied Speedball orange screen-printing ink with puff additive.

Making shirts for her friends is her "creative outlet," Alana told the publication, adding that she has "a little setup at home" that features a Cricut cutting machine.

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For Swift's "Stevie Knicks" shirt, Alana said that she "got a text from Taylor that was really the text that you want to get as an amateur screen printer."

"She said, 'I want to wear this shirt to the game, can you make it for me?' and I was like, 'I thought you would never ask, this is my dream,'" Alana recalled, adding: "We were kind of going back and forth with these puns; we really just wanted to have fun, because we were so excited that we were going to the game, and I thought it would make people laugh, so we put them on shirts and all decided to wear them."

HAIM and Swift have been longtime friends. The indie-pop trio opened for Swift on some nights of the Eras Tour and previously joined her on the 1989 tour. The 14-time Grammy winner also joined HAIM during a performance at London's O2 Arena in July 2022.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”