KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s been nearly nine months since Donna Kelce, mom of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, broke the internet with her "split" fashion.
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With both of her boys in Super Bowl LVII, she became an icon for wearing jackets, shoes and jerseys that were half Chiefs, half Eagles. As the Chiefs gear up to face the Philadelphia Eagles Monday night at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, many eyes are on Donna Kelce – and what she’ll be wearing - for the game people are calling the Superbowl rematch.
While Donna’s allegiances may be split, a small business owner from the east coast is behind the fashion bringing them together. And of course, that fashion has a connection that was fostered in Chiefs Kingdom.
Monica Blakely said it all came down to shooting her shot with Donna Kelce.
“I said, I can make her something, I can make her a few things that will set her apart from everyone else,” Blakely said.
She owns Passion for Ezra with her husband in Columbia, Maryland. They design gear for plenty of football players and celebrities. So she sent Donna Kelce a DM letting her know she had something for her.
“Donna is amazing, just all of it I can’t believe it. I had no idea it would be this big,” Blakely said.
Blakely ended up designing Donna’s signature split jacket and split shoes.
Blakely said the attention she ended up getting thanks to Donna was unreal. She soon saw her designs on national networks, an Erin Andrews interview and even got her jacket and shoes inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Blakely’s designed laded her a new friend in Kansas City, too. She connected with Chiefs superfan Catherine Baskett-Cook, known as KC Glitzn. The two ended up planning their in-person meeting at the NFL Draft in the spring at Union Station.
“We kind of built a little football sisterhood,” Blakely said of her friendship with Baskett-Cook.
Blakely even made Baskett-Cook a split jacket of her own, giving her a half-Chiefs, half-Royals jacket for her birthday.
“To me while there is a seam there, it’s seamless,” Baskett-Cook said of the jacket. “It’s from one heart to the other.”
While football and family stitch the Kelce brother’s together, rivalry is woven into football’s fabric. But Blakely’s pieces are what stitches people together.
“Family is great but the chosen ones are even more special because I think you choose to have people in your life,” Blakely said.
Several members of the Kelce family are also in the spotlight this week.
On Sunday, Kylie Kelce, a former collegiate field hockey player and wife to Jason Kelce, hosted a clinic for young athletes in Kansas City.
Jason and Travis also talked about facing each other on Monday’s Superbowl rematch in their podcast “New Heights,” presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment. You can watch the full episode on their YouTube page.
