Who Is Taylor Swift's Mystery Friend At The 2024 Super Bowl? Meet Ashley Avignone
Taylor Swift arrived at the 2024 Super Bowl with a girl squad that included Blake Lively, Ice Spice, and a somewhat unfamiliar face. Curious? Meet Ashley Avignone, Swift's friend of 16 years, who seems to be just as enthusiastic about football as Swift has become over the past several months.
February's big game isn't the first time the friends have shown up together to watch men in tight pants run down the field. If you've been paying attention to Swift's relationship with Travis Kelce, you've probably noticed Avignone sitting next to the singer during one of the many times the network cameras have shown her cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs. The two have hung out in private suites in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New York.
If the blonde-bobbed Avignone's face or name rings a bell outside of NFL football stadiums, you might remember her from Season 3 of the reality TV show "The Rachel Zoe Project," when she appeared as the assistant to celebrity designer Zoe. The fashion industry is where Swift's football friend has made her own mark in the world.
Emma Stone links the singer and the fashion pro
Long before she started showing off cute photos of Taylor Swift's cats on Instagram, Ashley Avignone studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. She officially launched her career as a fashion styling assistant, learning the ropes from a variety of celebrity stylists over the course of six years. She then signed with The Wall Group talent agency and became a lead stylist, dressing celebrities for the red carpet and doing styling for editorial photo shoots.
She eventually went out on her own, creating Avignone Studio in 2006. In 2019, she shared with Neely and Chloe that she had mostly moved on from styling the stars. "I don't do so much celebrity dressing anymore, I now work more directly with brands on a range of creative and strategic projects."
One of the celebrities she has worked with is actor Emma Stone, an important person in Avignone's connection to Taylor Swift — it was the "La La Land" star who introduced the football-cheering pair. Avignone and Stone have been close since growing up together in Arizona, and Stone and Swift have been friends since the 2008 Young Hollywood Awards. Together, the three have been spotted at events like the premiere of Stone's movie "Easy A" in 2010 and the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in 2011. Swift and Avignone grew their friendship even beyond Stone.
Swift and Avignone are devoted to each other
Much of the friendship between Taylor Swift and Ashley Avignone has been kept just between the two women and their football moments, but in 2019, Avignone shared her devotion to her bestie in an Instagram birthday tribute to Swift. "30 years of life for you, 11 years of friendship for us. Thanks for being the bestest friend, listener, dance party-starter, story teller, haircut enthusiast, with the biggest, warmest, and most generous heart."
Swift has reciprocated the affection by including Avignone in her music video for the song "22," a musical homage dedicated to friendships and the singer's 22nd birthday. A secret message in the liner notes includes a mention of the Grammy winner's best friends, and sure enough, Avignone is one of the ladies included: "Ashley, Dianna, Claire, Selena."
And despite their busy lives, the pair clearly prioritize their friendship. During the "Eras Tour," Swift used a break to catch up with Avignone in New York City, and the fashion pro is part of the gang pictured in Swift's 2023 belated Independence Day post on Instagram. We love a girl's girl, and Taylor Swift doesn't disappoint.