Tom Brady And Dao-Yi Chow Embody Fit And Structure In BRADY’s Sophomore Year

Gearing up for its sophomore year as a next-generation technical apparel brand of the finest performance wear, BRADY sets out to expand its serving of luxury athletic gear. Founded by the 7x NFL Super Bowl champion and recently retired Tom Brady, Jens Grede, and streetwear pioneer Dao-Yi Chow, BRADY has spent over three years in development prior to its launch a year ago.

The eponymous brand takes queues from the Hall of Famer and his two-decade-long career at the pro level as the inspiration that has innovated and engineered versatile luxury garments. Throughout production and within the design, the human body and movement play a central role in the BRADY brand, applying cutting-edge technology to create contoured silhouettes.

BRADY’s creative director and co-founder Dao-Yi Chow is a New York Native with an extensive career in fashion, menswear, and womenswear, respectively. He worked at Sean John for over a decade as its creative director, founded by P. Diddy. Chow would co-found the award-winning luxury streetwear brand Public School alongside his partner Maxwell Osborne in 2008.

At Public School, Chow and Maxwell designed with minimal language that praised silhouettes catered to streetwear. They elevated the more rugged for a sleeker-looking streetwear line. The duo also iterated retro renditions for the Air Jordan XII in 2015, the same year they were appointed co-creative directors by LVMH. They joined Donna Karan’s legendary label DKNY, marking the first time in DKNY’s history to change creative director.

Chow recalls his introduction to the BRADY label when associate “Andrew Rosen – who’s been a longtime mentor of mine and Maxwell – called me one day about something he was working on. Anytime Andrew calls me, I’ll drop everything.”

“He was like, ‘hold this space. I’m working on this thing called Brady.’ I had known Jens Grede. They were talking to me about this for a while,” Chow referring to being contacted in the summer of 2021. “Finally, I asked, you don’t mean Tom Brady, do you?”

The BRADY brand is the first technical apparel brand to have two decades of professional sports knowledge from Tom Brady to enhance the innovation and engineering in creating a system of clothing that performs across all physical activities. The team spent over three years developing and manufacturing fabrics and materials that fuse natural elements with the latest technology. The BRADY line has the human form in its design essence and the capability of a full range of motion.

“The different people that they were talking to in terms of the foundational team were people that I really admired and who had done great things in their careers,” Chow admits. “Then I met Tom a few times, and the idea of doing something that was performance-driven was something I had never done before.”

One of the first pieces that Chow developed was pants. “People might call them commuter pants. [We] call it the BRADY Pant because it’s the archetype, and it literally was the first fabric we developed when I jumped on board,” says Chow.

“A lot of what the brand represents is this balance between natural and technical. The first thing Tom [Brady] [mentioned] was that [he] doesn’t like training in polyester and heavy synthetic fabrics. I like cotton and the feel of natural fibers – what we set out to build. The foundation is a duality between the natural and technical – at all times.”

Chow states, “we wanted to create a straight pant that was still slim but had this distinct shape, waist, [and] straight at the hips. Really allow you to do anything in those pants. You can play golf, play tennis, and run in it. This idea of performance [with] all-day comfort, natural cotton, and with the technical attributes of what synthetic fabric might give you; moisture-wicking, water repellent, breathable; all those things are, for sure, my favorite.”

The BRADY philosophy is Lifeletics, designed to bring together their collective experience in sports, design, and manufacturing. Built by fashion veterans and arguably the “greatest” athlete of all time, every product is crafted through the experience and knowledge of Tom Brady, who wear-tested BRADY garments himself. Chow is a runner and has also found a passion point in building the label to become ubiquitous among athletics.

“The thing that everyone wears in the office, that Tom loves, is the [BRADY] underwear,” notes Chow. “We geeked out over underwear. It was just something that we felt was right. Not everyone wants to wear Brady across their chest, and people probably [wouldn’t] want to wear big logos, but the underwear made so much sense. We built the underwear the same way – in a cotton blend. The most comfortable shape-retaining underwear. I think those two products are standouts.”

The BRADY style is not so far removed from Tom Brady’s quarterbacking during his NFL career. The minimal garments blend into any wardrobe with a focus on structure, dealing with the fabrications of performance fabrics. “You think about the marketplace,” Chow remarks of the fashion business aspect. “The fabric drapes feel sloppy sometimes, and we gravitate towards fabrics that will still give you structure and form.”

The BRADY aesthetic comes in minimally-structured garments, with touch and feel at the helm while maintaining shape. The palette is tonal and based heavily on blues. A deep connection to Brady as an athlete, “the ‘BRADY’ blue color is a legitimate Pantone we created, is based on the idea of water,” Chow says as he dives into the habits of Tom Brady. “He drinks wild water – maybe like 10 gallons of water a day,” Chow enthusiastically notes.

Chow is further developing the brand and its garment functionality. “At this point in my career, I didn’t want to think about fashion in that sense of how to make something cool,” he says. “I wanted to do functional fabric innovations and development. I’m a runner, and 1678116575 I can create things I could wear and test out.”