Travis Kelce has more to celebrate than his internet-breaking engagement to Taylor Swift.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end became the face of American Eagle’s latest campaign Wednesday — just one day after sharing news of his engagement to the pop superstar — as the jeans company looks to move on from its Sydney Sweeney controversy.
As part of a design collaboration with his sports and lifestyle brand, Tru Kolors, the partnership will include clothing items such as Cricket sweaters, rugby polos, and utility cargo pants.
“It was an awesome opportunity to team up with an established brand where both sides were excited to truly collaborate on every decision in the design and creative process,” Kelce said about the collaboration, adding that he kept it a secret for “nearly a year.”
The clothing line will have more than 90 items priced between $14.95 and $179.95 and will “evoke Travis’ unique style, delivering an elevated take on everyday essentials and transforming classic silhouettes into bold statements of confidence and individuality.”
In addition to Kelce’s appearance in the American Eagle campaign, other well-known athletes were photographed wearing the clothes, including rising tennis star Anna Frey; basketball guard Azzi Fudd; quarterback Drew Allar; top wide receiver recruit Jeremiah Smith; rising NBA star Kiyan Anthony (Carmelo and LaLa Anthony’s son); and Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Suni Lee.
American Eagle’s new ad campaign comes after the controversy that arose from Sweeney’s collaboration with the brand earlier this month.
For that campaign, which included the limited launch of the wide-legged “The Sydney Jean,” the actor was featured in multiple photos and videos, including one where she cleans off a poster of herself wearing a denim jacket and jeans and bearing a punny tagline about denim. While the phrase initially said, “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes,” the last word was then crossed out and replaced with “Jeans.” The same tagline appears in nearly every ad for the campaign.
Online critics pointed out that phrases such as “good genes” and “great genes” have historically been used in the language of eugenicists, who believe the human race can be improved genetically by selective breeding.
Following the release of the ad, American Eagle released a statement on Instagram to address the backlash. “‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans,” the retailer wrote. “Her jeans. Her story.”
Kelce’s new ad campaign also comes one day after he and Swift made a joint Instagram post announcing their engagement. The couple announced the news Tuesday afternoon with a series of photos showing Kelce on one knee under an arch of roses in the center of a garden.
“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” the joint post was captioned.
