Wherever Travis Kelce goes, his crew follows — and Aric Jones is among his closest confidantes.
The pair have been friends since they were kindergarteners playing for the same hockey team in Cleveland Heights. And they’ve remained close ever since, with Jones still among the inner circle cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs in a private suite every Sunday.
Jones may be the life of the party bus, but he’s also somewhat of the group’s fashion director; he founded a lifestyle and clothing brand dedicated to the spirit of the Heights in 2017, called Homebred Legends, and counts Kelce among its biggest fans — and original muses.
“I wanted to do something that represented me and my friends in my city of Cleveland Heights, Ohio,” Jones tells Page Six Style exclusively. “Travis and Jason [Kelce] are great spokespeople for the city as well. So we just have a lot of pride out where we’re from.”
The brand’s name honors the idea that legendary status starts with one’s roots.
“The way that I define a homebred legend is an individual who’s loyal to the beginnings, creating a legacy of excellence in their craft while impacting the lives of others,” he says. “Loyal to your home, loyal to the people around you, loyal to what you do.”
To call Kelce loyal would be an understatement; he frequently tops off his high-fashion looks with a Homebred cap while hosting his “New Heights” podcast, at Chiefs press conferences and on game days.
But when the 34-year-old teamed a Homebred trucker hat ($40) with his Lanvin separates while arriving at Arrowhead Stadium for this season’s opening game on Sept. 5, it came as a surprise even to Jones — because it wasn’t the finalized design.
“It truly caught me off guard,” Jones tells us of Kelce’s red-and-white cap with black text. “It was a sample and only four of them were made.” (The “official” version featuring red text is available to shop on Homebred’s website.)
The designer calls the ensuing flood of messages from fans and new customers “monumental” for his small brand, which will stage a pop-up store inside of the Kansas City Beauty Collective on Sunday, Oct. 6 from 1 to 5 p.m.
It’s fitting that Kelce would be the one to rock a rare prototype; Jones says Travis is “his own man” who “does his own thing” when it comes to fashion, and has been a trendsetter since the start.
“We’re from Cleveland Heights and fashion is the thing there. We are a very fashion-forward city, a very fashion-forward suburb,” he says.
“So even growing up, when I was in middle school and elementary school, the dudes at Heights High, they were always fresh. So me and my friends couldn’t wait to get to high school because we knew that was the pinnacle and that was where you could do your thing, where you could make your name.”
His group even indulged in so-called “Get Fresh Fridays,” when members of the basketball team (including Kelce) were required to dress up in suits and ties.
“We were the guys [who] played sports and we got dressed,” he says. “It was just as competitive as it was fighting for a starting spot on the team. We take it very seriously.”
Shortly after Kelce joined the Chiefs and relocated to Kansas City in 2013, Jones became his roommate — and got an up-close look at his “impeccable” wardrobe.
“He’s the best dressed dude in the NFL; I think he’s been that for years,” he says. “I think he’s one of the best dressed athletes out here in general. He picks out his stuff on his own. He does his own thing. He has the eye for it. And it’s always been like that.”
According to Jones, Kelce’s shoe collection is especially impressive.
“He had the Marty McFlys and he had every Jordan,” the designer recalls of seeing the tight end’s footwear assortment for the first time, referring to the rare “Back to the Future”-inspired Nikes Kelce spent $10,000 to acquire after getting his first NFL paycheck.
“Our budgets are a little different,” Jones jokes of the difference between Kelce’s closet and his own. “But style really has no price tag.”
That’s reflected by the gang’s game-day attire, which is often coordinated; in a recent episode of “New Heights,” Kelce even revealed that their Nike Air Jordans will match the NFL schedule this season.
“We all look at Sundays as a fashion show. This is what we do: getting fresh and going to games,” Jones says.
“The thing to do in high school was go to the Heights games, because that’s where you put on your best outfit and that’s where the girls were. [And] now, 12 years into the NFL, we get fresh and we go watch Trav play.”
Of course, one of “the girls” cheering on Kelce now happens to be the world’s most famous pop star. But as Jones puts it, “the world around us is going to change, but we don’t have to.”
“We stay loyal to ourselves. We stay loyal to our beginnings, stay true to our roots and who we are,” he says.
“I’m never going to downplay [the hype] or to say [the new attention] isn’t the coolest stuff in the world. But, at the same time, all we got to do is be us. And the only thing that’s changed is that there’s a camera in the suite now.”
So, will Swift be getting in on varsity jacket night with the “brotherhood” or calling up Jones for fashion advice? Maybe not. But she’s certainly adding to the vibe.
“Taylor’s great. Taylor’s her own woman. And like, if Taylor wants to participate with us on theme nights, of course, we welcome it,” he says.
“But at the end of the day, just having her there and having her presence there is awesome. She’s there to cheer on her boyfriend and hang out with us and, to be quite honest, that’s enough.”
