Finally Someone Made Chic Sports Merch
An interview with Danielle Snyder
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As a Sports Gossip Enthusiast, all I ever want is cool sports-adjacent merch.
ICYMI: I released another round of Impersonal Foul hats after you sold me out twice of the initial runs.
I brought back the ‘Sports Gossip Enthusiast’ hat in new colors and some other fun designs that you can check out below:
This obviously got me thinking about merch for my favorite sports teams.
Why is most of it….not great??? I know that there are so many people reading this and beyond who watch sports, but don’t want to wear a t-shirt that looks like something you’d get for free at a summer camp.
Give! Us! Chic! Merch!
I started digging into this and realized the best way to understand how the Sports Merch Universe works is by talking to someone who actually works in that space and is doing something different.
I reached out to Danielle Snyder, the co-founder of DannijoPro, which sells officially licensed premium NBA merch.
Before launching DannijoPro, Snyder co-founded the jewelry and fashion brand, DANNIJO.
Snyder kindly answered a few of my questions about the process of becoming an officially licensed partner of a major sports league, what it was like collaborating with GAP, and what’s next for the brand.
Enjoy!
An Interview With The Co-Founder Of DannijoPro
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. You can follow DannijoPro on Instagram here.
Can you share what inspired you to launch DannijoPro?
I moved to the Bay in March of 2020, during the pandemic, when I was pregnant with my first child.
After the birth of my daughter, Lou, I had terrible postpartum depression. It wasn’t until I started going to the Warriors games that I came back to life and began to love the Bay Area.
I’ve always been creative and have had the label DANNIJO with my sister Jodie since 2008.
I started making myself cool Warriors-inspired outfits to wear to the games—cutting up oversized men’s jerseys, adding crystals, glitter, and custom stitching to each piece. People at the games started to notice and ask where they could get them.
I realized there was a huge white space at the intersection of fashion and fandom, which led to the birth of DannijoPro.
What was the process like working with the NBA? Did they have any approvals over the final pieces?
Working with the NBA has been amazing. We’re official licensees, so we liaise directly with the NBA on all designs for approval.
So far, you’ve launched jackets, jerseys, sweatshirts, sweatpants, t-shirts, and hats. Do you plan on staying in those categories or are you planning on expanding in the future?
Yes, we’re expanding our offering — so stay tuned.
Do you envision developing merch for other leagues?
We want to own the basketball vertical and then we’ll expand across sports and offer collections for other leagues, as well.
What are your three favorite pieces in the collection?
My favorite pieces are the boxy cropped satin jacket, the football jersey, and the pinstripe oversized jacket.
What’s the response been from basketball fans?
The response has been amazing. Everyone’s asking when the next drop will be, which is a really good sign.
Also, a lot of players and coaches — including Steve Kerr, Jonathan Kuminga, Gary Payton II, Moses Moody, Buddy Hield, Juan Toscano Anderson, Festus Ezeli, and Temi Fagbenle— have worn DannijoPro and supported the brand’s launch.
Steph and Ayesha Curry, Draymond and Hazel Green, and Kevon Looney and Mariah Simone all attended our launch party on International Women’s Day.
You recently launched a collaboration with GAP. Can you share how that came to be?
The collab with GAP was really organic. Zac Posen and I are dear friends and have amazing creative chemistry together. He introduced me to the team from GAP, and it was a match made in heaven.
We had already been using some of their garments as canvases for our creations, so the collaboration was a no-brainer.
What’s next for DannijoPro?
The sky is the limit. We acquired the license going into NBA season this year, so we didn’t have much turnaround time.
We’re really excited for next NBA season and what’s to come in between season drops, so stay tuned.
If Bravo and ESPN had a baby, it would be Impersonal Foul. This newsletter is free, but consider becoming a paying subscriber for $6/month to support the work that I’m doing.
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Cavs please 😭