What Travis Kelce means for Tommy Hilfiger

Tommy Hilfiger unveiled its fall 2026 campaign on Tuesday, marking the debut of Travis Kelce as its global brand ambassador, as announced in March. Kelce’s campaign, shot by photographer Lachlan Bailey and set at New York’s The Plaza Hotel, arrives a week before the start of the 2026 NFL season and puts the new partnership between the athlete and the PVH-owned label through its first test.

Kelce’s marketability goes beyond football visibility. It’s a fact that he has won three Super Bowl championships as the Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end, which would normally be enough for an athlete to secure fashion deals. But he is also a tunnel-walk style pioneer and, let’s not forget, the husband of Taylor Swift — another detail that would also likely be sufficient for anyone to secure any kind of marketing deals.

Tommy Hilfiger described Kelce as “one of the most magnetic figures in sport and culture today,” while announcing his partnership with him in March. “He is at the forefront of a new generation of athletes expressing themselves through style, with a down-to-earth quality that people immediately connect with,” the designer said.

The partnership goes beyond fashion campaigns. Kelce is also expected to co-design menswear and accessories, refreshing “Prep Made Current” through his own style. Furthermore, the athlete is to be seen wearing Tommy Hilfiger clothes throughout the upcoming NFL season, which happens to be one of the most-watched sporting events in the United States.

The campaign release arrived one day before PVH is to report its second-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings before the market opens on Wednesday.

Tommy Hilfiger revenue rose 3 percent in the first quarter of 2026, though it fell 2 percent on a constant currency basis. Growth in direct-to-consumer partially offset a decline in wholesale, and the brand's sweaters and outerwear categories posted gains across stores and e-commerce. Parent company PVH Corp. cut its full-year outlook at the time, citing the prolonged effects of the Middle East conflict, and now projects revenue to be approximately flat with operating margins around 8.8 percent on a non-GAAP basis. PVH reports second-quarter results on Wednesday, with analysts at TradingView expecting group revenue of roughly 2.1 billion dollars, down 3.2 percent year over year, and earnings of 3.08 dollars per share.

"Only in New York”

Tommy Hilfiger’s fall 2026 campaign is titled "Only in New York.” Besides featuring Kelce as guest in residence at The Plaza Hotel, where the designer lived for over a decade, the campaign also includes Tommy and Dee Hilfiger, Gigi Hadid, brand ambassador Jisoo, musician Peggy Gou, tennis player Frances Tiafoe and Carmelo Anthony.

The campaign follows spring 2026, which was set at Hilfiger's Palm Beach home. The accompanying collection continues the brand's "Prep Made Current" vision, centred on cable knit sweaters, rugby shirts, varsity jackets and outerwear including wool pea coats and car coats. It is available now across tommy.com, stores and wholesale partners.