Dressing in comfort and style is just how Brian Kelley and Brittney Kelley roll.
While many know this country music couple from their red carpet appearances and life on the road—after all, Brian is one half of Florida Georgia Line—the famous pair has also quietly been building a fashion empire filled with love and care called Tribe Kelley.
It all began on a tour bus when Brittney started making her own concert and vintage T-shirts. Members of the band had some fashion requests and magic began to happen.
“I started by cutting up t-shirts and bleaching them and rearranging them and tying a bow on the sides,” Brittney recalled to E! News exclusively. “I ended up learning how to sew on the tour bus with all the dudes off of YouTube and then it just kind of clicked.”
While the University of Georgia alumna admits she always had that bone in her body “to just work and be creative,” she took her time in developing and finalizing the first collection with her husband. And when the launch date finally arrived in 2014, she couldn’t help but feel “scared and nervous.”
“You know my husband has this following but I just knew that no matter what, even if you put stuff in front of millions of people, they don’t have to buy it,” she shared. “When we launched, it was actually our anniversary and it landed on an award show night and within the first 10 minutes, we had made about $30,000. I remember going into the bathroom and crying tears of joy.”
Fast-forward to today and Tribe Kelley has become a community that includes two retail stores and an online site. Both men and women can find a variety of affordable pieces including the brand’s top-selling sweats and hoodies. Brittney also raves about the traveler bra while dudes praise the pullovers and flannels.
“I feel like I got some criticism in the beginning because obviously my initial platform was country music but I didn’t care,” Brittney shared when discussing the variety of pieces. “I didn’t launch the brand to instantly get rich and make a lot of money. I didn’t want to just create a merch brand to occupy my time. This was a passion project that I wanted to connect with and something that I wanted to truly be a representation of me.”
When you visit a Tribe Kelley store in either Nashville or Florida’s Santa Rosa Beach, customers aren’t welcomed in by sales reps but by “stylists.” In fact, Brittney prefers to call her shoppers “our tribe” who often communicate via text message about new collections and launches.
“I’m very conscious and intentional with my training from assessing a customer when they come in the door to reading a customer’s vibe over the phone or Facetime. I want my girls to relay the right message and right vibe,” Brittney shared. “We do have a lot of country music celebrities come into the store so I’m very big on treat everybody like they are somebody.”
Looking ahead, Brittney is excited to share a brand-new collection arriving as early as next month. “There’s some really, original custom prints in there,” she teased. “There’s some really fun flowy stuff. We’re getting one of our first-length dresses. It’s going to be cool, beachy, breezy, ethical, conscious bad-ass collection.”
And as Tribe Kelley continues to grow, it’s the founder’s hope that the clothes continue to symbolize a powerful story.
“It’s born in the USA, it’s ethically made. It’s not just about creating clothing and giving it to somebody and making a profit,” Brittney shared. “It’s about the attention and connection behind it. I want that message to stay cohesive through our growth.”
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