Alana Haim Shares the Story Behind Those Punny Knicks Game Shirts—and Taylor Swift's Inspiring Text

Alana Haim is opening up about the creative process behind the custom Knicks shirts that turned heads at game four of the NBA Finals this week.

The 34-year-old musician and actress rocked a "Knickole Kidman" tee, while her sister Este sported a "Knickleback" design. Taylor Swift, a close friend, wore a "Stevie Knicks" shirt to the game, as did actresses Mariska Hargitay and Nicole Kidman.

Speaking with Vogue, Haim explained that making personalized shirts for friends is a passion project and creative outlet for her. "I have my friends come over all the time, and I'm like, 'Do you want to make shirts?'" she said. "I can't paint. I wish I could paint, but I can't. But I figured out how to screen print, and I have like a little setup at home."

Her process involves using a Cricut machine to cut vinyl designs, which she then applies to screens before using screen-printing paint and a squeegee to complete the look. For these particular shirts, Haim got to experiment with a puffy additive effect, something she'd been wanting to try for a while.

The inspiration for those clever name puns came directly from Swift. "I got a text from Taylor that was really the text that you want to get as an amateur screen printer," Haim recalled with a laugh. "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.'"

From there, the two brainstormed together. "Whenever I start out a session with a friend, I go: 'Let's talk about puns, let's talk about sizing,' and [Swift] came up with Stevie Knicks," Haim explained. "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."

Hargitay, who had just finished performing in the Broadway production of Every Brilliant Thing, also ended up in one of the custom tees. Haim noted that she always prepares extras, and Swift wanted to bring additional shirts to share with friends.

"Taylor really wanted to bring extras so we could give them to friends. And Mariska was so down; she's such an amazing human being, and I'm such a big fan of her, so the fact that she also wanted to wear one of my shirts was insane," Haim shared. "It really bonded us all together. I've never hugged someone more than at that game. It was such an incredible game, so I was really happy that we had brought extras."