Does the World Really Need Tom Brady's Clothing Brand?
Would anyone really mind if Tom Brady took a break for a few months? Between again taking the Bucs to the playoffs, wading into NFTs, and his many other exploits (pseudoscientific training regimen, anyone?), it's never not Tom time.
But especially with BRADY, his eponymous clothing line, we'd be happy to see Tom take a step back.
If you've missed the myriad teasers leading tp to BRADY's January 12 launch — or, perhaps, if it was obscured by the constant deluge of Brady news — all you really need to know is that it's a rather tame athleisure-leaning menswear line bearing Brady's marketable moniker.
Though it's co-founded with serial entrepreneur Jens Grede (co-founder of Kim Kardashian's SKIMS) and designed by Public School co-founder Dao-Yi Chow, BRADY doesn't really need to exist.
In fact, BRADY's similar to the immeasurable number of unnecessary celebrity beauty brands and food team-ups that're always fueled by the same equation: famous face + consumable good = guaranteed profit for the already-wealthy.
So BRADY's probably gonna be a financial touchdown for the star quarterback and his backers even though its actual output oughta be sent back to scrimmage.
The athleisure space is as crowded as ever, with juggernauts like Lululemon, Alo, and Athleta rubbing elbows with titanic companies like Nike, UNIQLO and Under Armour as they compete to produce new iterations of the same basic pieces.
Amidst stiff competition, it's hard to imagine anyone flocking to BRADY for any reason other than its namesake.
Therein lies several key differences to Kardashian's SKIMS and Brady's, er, BRADY.
Kardashian's shapewear company was founded on controversy and public obsession with the socialite's body, for instance.
SKIMS' "inclusive" messaging, stylized palettes, and a semi-YEEZY-fied website up the appeal.
Plus, the shapewear market was ripe for renewal and SKIMS was stylish and slick enough to fill the niche. What does BRADY do that its peers don't?
"[Brady] loves clothes way more than I do," wife Gisele Bündchen said in a pre-launch interview last year. "He has great taste and understands and really cares about what people want, what can help them feel good."
If wearing a shirt printed with "BRADY" is all it takes to make someone feel good, more power to them. But to the rest of us, the collection feels remarkably inessential.
Just check out the debut BRADY collection and be underwhelmed by the insipid presentation of all-too-familiar clothing.
Tech-y T-shirts, polos, hoodies, and sweatpants cut from stretchy sweat-wicking fabrics are the kinda things we've already seen from BRADY's competition, in both men's and women's sizing to boot (BRADY currently only offers menswear).
Lightweight water-repelling jacket? Old news. Zippered track jacket? Been there before. Tech-bro insulated vest? Done to death.
Really, BRADY's only distinguishing factor is the Pantone-designed "BRADY Blue" hue used for a few T-shirts, which says a lot (or, actually, very little).
BRADY's strongest distinction is its alignment with famous athletes. Brady himself is obviously a big draw and he brought in pros and college athletes across the spectrum of sport to model this first BRADY drop.
Always nice to give a little shine to the next generation, it's just a shame that they're basically pitchmen for a superfluous product.
