Underdog Apparel – Powering Jason Kelce’s Vision with a Custom Shopify Experience
When NFL legend and Philadelphia Eagles icon Jason Kelce decided to relaunch Underdog Apparel, he wasn't just launching another celebrity brand — he was reigniting a movement rooted in grit, resilience, and authenticity. His goal was simple yet powerful: create Made-in-USA streetwear that embodied the fighting spirit he carried throughout his career and throughout Philadelphia.
To support this new chapter, Jason needed more than a basic e-commerce store.
He needed a digital platform that could communicate the brand’s soul while offering a seamless, high-performance shopping experience.
That's where we came in — to design, develop, and optimize a fully custom Shopify website that would deliver Underdog Apparel’s message loud and clear.
(Learn more about Jason Kelce’s mission in The New York Times, Inc. Magazine, and PhillyVoice.)
The Problem: A Powerful Story Without a Digital Stage
Underdog Apparel had the story, the ethos, and a growing community — but lacked a digital storefront capable of honoring that vision. Jason Kelce’s relaunch wasn’t just about selling products; it was about building a community around perseverance, authenticity, and American craftsmanship. The brand needed:
A custom Shopify website that would feel distinct — not like every other e-commerce template.
A visually driven layout that would emphasize both the clothing and the narrative behind it.
Lightning-fast performance to handle media attention and sudden traffic spikes following major announcements.
Scalability for new drops, collaborations (like the partnership with American Giant), and future product line expansions.
Most importantly, the website needed to feel like Underdog: bold, resilient, and unapologetically real — just like Philadelphia.
Our Approach: Translating the Underdog Spirit into Code
We approached the project with a mindset focused on brand storytelling through UX. Every design choice, development decision, and optimization effort was guided by one principle: The visitor must feel the spirit of the Underdog from the first click. Here's how we did it:
Discovery & Brand Immersion: Before writing a single line of code, we immersed ourselves deeply in Jason Kelce’s vision for the brand. We studied interviews (Yahoo Sports, Page Six), media coverage, and the broader public conversation about Underdog’s relaunch. Understanding the emotional connection between Philadelphia, Jason, and the Underdog story was essential to building a truly authentic platform.
UX/UI Strategy: We mapped a minimalist yet powerful design system, focusing on:
Hero imagery that showcased the apparel and the people who embody its spirit.
Direct, no-fluff navigation — Home, Shop, About, Contact — making it easy to move through the experience.
- Emotional storytelling touchpoints, weaving Jason’s messaging throughout the journey to keep visitors connected.
Custom Shopify Development: We built the website from scratch — no reliance on prebuilt Shopify templates. This allowed us to:
Design fully responsive layouts for mobile, tablet, and desktop.
Implement optimized asset loading to ensure fast speeds under heavy traffic.
Create custom homepages, product pages, and collection grids that reflected the brand’s unique aesthetic and storytelling needs.
Performance & Scalability Focus: With major national media attention expected, we made sure the site was engineered for performance at scale. This included:
Advanced Shopify Liquid optimizations for faster load times.
CDN-powered asset delivery to handle large media and product assets globally.
Lazy-loading techniques to speed up non-critical assets.
Pre-rendering critical pages to minimize Time-To-First-Byte and maximize user experience.
Key Features: A Platform Built for Brand Loyalty and Growth
The final Underdog Apparel website included:
Minimalist, Bold Design: Focused on storytelling and product visibility without distractions.
Custom Homepage and Product Pages: Purpose-built to elevate the narrative and enhance shopping.
Mobile-First Experience: Perfectly optimized for the majority of visitors browsing from smartphones.
Scalable E-commerce Backbone: Ready to support future drops, collaborations, and marketing campaigns.
SEO Best Practices: Structured metadata, image optimizations, and content hierarchy designed to boost organic discovery and visibility.
The Impact: Underdog Apparel’s Digital Comeback
Since the relaunch:
Massive Media Attention: The site supported surges in traffic after features in The New York Times, MSN, Inc., and PhillyVoice.
Strong Sales and Community Growth: A seamless UX and authentic brand experience helped convert visitors into customers and brand advocates.
Positioned for Long-Term Success: The Shopify infrastructure built for Underdog ensures smooth scalability as the brand grows into new collections and partnerships.
Conclusion: Digital Infrastructure for an Underdog Revolution
Underdog Apparel isn’t just about clothes — it's about a movement. It’s about honoring every fighter, every dreamer, and every person who rises against the odds. Through a custom Shopify build, thoughtful UX strategy, and relentless attention to detail, we helped bring Jason Kelce’s vision into the digital world — giving the underdog spirit a platform to thrive.
The underdog always rises. Now, it rises online too.
