The engagement between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce may be just the boost that brand Americana sorely needs.
Even before Donald Trump reentered the White House earlier this year, traditional American symbols — the flag, the White House, the colour combination of red, white and blue — had become mired in the country’s increasingly toxic politics. After Trump announced sweeping tariffs, USA-coded products, from Kentucky bourbon to Starbucks, were the subject of calls for boycotts from Canada to India. Fashion brands that use their all-American image as a selling point overseas, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger among them, mostly avoided getting swept up. But the long-term viability of selling brand America in the growing list of countries Trump deemed enemies was in doubt.
Kelce and Swift, however, are also quintessentially American — he, a three-time Super Bowl-winning NFL tight end, and she, the most successful pop star of her generation, with roots in country music. In a nation that glorifies celebrity and sports above all else, they’re the ultimate power duo — some have even taken to referring to them as America’s royal couple. (An apt comparison, as there’s no doubt that their wedding will attract, if not surpass, William-and-Kate levels of attention.)
Unusually in these times, their engagement has been met with near-universal praise and glee — even from Trump himself. Despite previously criticising Swift, who endorsed his opponent Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election, he told reporters that he thinks that Kelce is “a great guy and I think that she’s a terrific person,” adding that he wishes them “a lot of luck.”
Like most Millennial American couples, the two announced their engagement on Instagram — which meant that their proposal ensembles were quickly dissected online. The Natural Diamond Council was quick to send out a statement commending their choice to use a vintage stone rather than a lab-grown option. The jeweller that made her ring, Artifex Fine Jewelry, gained nearly 100,000 Instagram followers in the 24 hours since the engagement was announced. Louis Vuitton, too, got some air time, with Swift wearing the brand’s Le Damier de Louis Vuitton bracelet.
But it was Ralph Lauren — which both Kelce and Swift were wearing head-to-toe when he got down on one knee — that emerged as the biggest winner. Kelce and Swift’s engagement generated $6.8 million in earned media value for the brand in the first 48 hours after the news was revealed, accounting for 10 percent of Ralph Lauren’s overall impact in August.
It was a fitting choice for a couple that’s come to embody the same flavour of nonpartisan, slightly kitschy but globally revered Americana that has turned Ralph Lauren, along with Tommy Hilfiger, Levi’s and a handful of other brands, into some of the best-known brands on the planet. As political tensions run high, with partisan debates projected onto everything from denim campaigns to restaurant logo refreshes, Kelce and Swift are a powerful reminder that America as a brand is bigger than the latest news cycle, or whoever’s in the White House.
This approach has long worked for Ralph Lauren in particular. The 50-year-old brand has always put apolitical symbols of Americana front and centre, whether dressing the US Olympic team to its Old West-themed SoHo store. These themes play well at home, but especially resonate overseas, where American-coded brands are seen as more aspirational in many markets. Ralph Lauren has also highlighted more personal takes on Americana, such as its recent campaign focused on the Black families that have long populated the town of Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, or its artist-in-residence program, in which it collaborates with Native American designers.
The proof that this branding still works, even in 2025, is in the company’s financial results: In the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, revenue grew 14 percent overall and rose fastest in China, even as the country was locked in an increasingly acrimonious trade war with the US.
For American brands looking to appeal to those on both sides of the aisle, and especially if they’re looking to sell this vision outside the US, Kelce and Swift serve as a reminder that there’s still a way to lean on Americana as a marketing tool without instantly stoking ire.
American Eagle certainly gets it. A month ago, the brand was swept up in a very red versus blue controversy over its marketing campaign starring Sydney Sweeney. That ad, too, was a reference to a form of Americana — highlighting its denim assortment in a nod to Brooke Shields’ iconic 1980 Calvin Klein ads. But it instantly became the latest flareup in the culture wars, with progressives and conservatives arguing over whether it was racist.
On Wednesday, American Eagle dropped its next campaign, a collaboration with none other than Kelce. If they were looking for a cultural reset after the Sweeney debacle, they couldn’t have picked a more powerful ambassador.
Besides, of course, his fiancé.