Last January, Todd Lansky stood with his son Tyler in the stands at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, for the Detroit Lions’ most memorable NFL game in about half a century. The Lions were about to face the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game when Mr. Lansky’s phone buzzed.
Mr. Lansky, 53, is a lawyer by day. By night, he runs a fan merchandise company called Detroit Army from his home in the Chicago area — a passion project that he thought was getting some attention around the time the previously woeful Lions made their playoff run last season.
Amid a flood of texts and missed calls, Mr. Lansky realized what had happened: Dan Campbell, the Lions’ head coach, had been wearing one of Mr. Lansky’s Detroit Army trucker hats in his head. a televised pregame interview with Michael Strahan of Fox Sports.
It turned out to be a tough day for the Lions, who took an early lead before collapsing in the second half. But at least Mr. Lansky won: Detroit’s military received 379 orders within three minutes of Mr. Strahan’s interview airing.
“That number,” Mr. Lansky said, “is etched in stone.”
For a team that had been virtually synonymous with losing and frustration for decades, and a fan base accustomed to being on the receiving end of sports talk, rising to the top of the NFL and having a basic apparel line has led to what once seemed an unlikely feeling: being a Lions fan is cool.
Just as improbable as the Lions’ rise was that of Detroit’s Army. Without the benefit of a licensing agreement with professional teams or leagues, it still managed to muscle its way into the hyper-competitive sportswear market. It happened thanks to Mr. Lansky’s enthusiasm for the work; help from his 21-year-old daughter, Zoey; and the coincidental involvement of Mr. Campbell, a popular coach whose rising lions are back in the playoffs this season, this time as Super Bowl favorites.
“It’s a labor of love,” Mr. Lansky said.
The brand, he said, has everything to do with his affection for Detroit, where he grew up before attending college in Indiana and moving to Chicago for law school. Once in Chicago, he discovered that his social circle consisted largely of fellow expats from Detroit. It was a lesson: You can take the person out of Detroit, but you can’t take Detroit out of the person.
“If you meet someone from Detroit,” he said, “wherever you are, there’s an instant connection.”
In 2007, Mr. Lansky was preparing for a weekend retreat to play in a recreational basketball tournament with some friends who were also from Detroit.
That team needed a name and Detroit Army was born.
A few years later, Mr. Lansky created a logo for the team — the Old English “D” for Detroit Army was inspired by the Detroit Tigers logo — and had jerseys printed. It was a nice distraction for a self-described “gear guy” who made T-shirts for his fraternity.
But Mr. Lansky soon went beyond sweaters. He started sending Detroit Army sweatshirts, T-shirts and baseball caps as gifts to friends. One year for Mother’s Day, a large number of women in his family received camouflage sweatpants.
Yet it wasn’t a company — not yet — even though Mr. Lansky trademarked the “Detroit Army” trademark in 2016. He had a demanding job as managing partner of a credit and collections law firm, and he struggled to grasp the idea of making extra money as the sole employee of a start-up clothing brand.
But he always believed that Detroit Army could grow into something more. His gear tapped into the sense of community he felt among fellow Detroiters, he said, and it seemed only a matter of time before he would “go beyond just giving away free merchandise.”
The turning point came in June 2021. Mr. Lansky’s trademark was in danger of decayand his daughter Zoey performed an intervention. Detroit’s military deserved more attention.
“Dad,” she remembered telling him, “this is getting out of hand.”
In other words, it was time for Mr. Lansky to turn his fun little hobby into a business. He knew the Detroit Army needed a web page. His daughter told him this was necessary an Instagram accountat.
There was only one problem.
“He didn’t really know what he was doing,” Ms. Lansky said.
So before leaving for her freshman year at Ohio State University, Ms. Lansky became her father’s instructor. The course was Instagram 101. She showed him how to create a profile. She explained the difference between a post and a story. She demonstrated the importance of good lighting.
Despite their many hours of hard work together, Mr. Lansky still felt a bit lost when his daughter, as he put it, “completely jumped ship” by going to college.
“So I’m up at 2 in the morning trying to figure out how to do Instagram posts and stories,” he said.
A year later, when Ms. Lansky was a sophomore, a racy-looking story appeared on her Instagram feed, courtesy of Detroit Army. She thought her father had hired an expert. But no: he had done it himself.
“I was so proud of him,” she said.
Thanks to social media and word of mouth, Detroit Army slowly became more popular. Mr. Lansky had a so-called Detroit Army room at home, a workspace full of organized chaos (boxes, supplies, packing slips). He had one rule for his three children: don’t do that. To touch. Something.
And then Mr. Campbell got involved.
When the Lions hired Mr. Campbell as head coach in 2021, the team was terrible. But Campbell, a heavy-chested former NFL player, coached the team to a winning record in just his second season. And he connected with Detroit’s loyal fans by looking and sounding like an old-school football coach: He’s talked about form his team in one that ‘kicks you in the teeth’ and ‘bites a kneecap off’.
To Mr. Lansky, Mr. Campbell was the personification of Detroit – and a perfect fit for his brand. That Mr. Lansky happened to live down the street from Mr. Campbell’s agent, Rick Smith, proved to be the opening he needed, with Mr. Smith encouraging Mr. Lansky to put together a Detroit Army care package for Mr. Campbell.
Sure enough, Mr. Campbell wore one of Mr. Lansky’s hats when he appeared at a news conference during his first season with the team, and he has continued to wear the Detroit Army apparel ever since. He has plenty of choice: Mr. Lansky sends Mr. Campbell’s family a new box of supplies every few weeks.
“Dan loves what the brand stands for, and he just wears it like a man,” Mr. Smith said. ‘There is no approval, there is nothing. It’s just a fun thing.”
More recently, Ben Johnson, the Lions’ offensive coordinator, started wearing Detroit Army hats occasionally. Mr Johnson is also represented by Mr Smith. (As the Lions prepared for a playoff game against the Washington Commanders on Saturday, neither coach was available for comment.)
Now, four years after Mr. Lansky’s side hustle, the Detroit Army account on Instagram has more than 10,000 followers. He has completed custom assignments for apartment complexes, alumni groups and small businesses. Outreach comes in the form of sending merchandise to celebrities and athletes with Detroit connections, and then hoping they post photos of themselves wearing the gear online.
“You have to see what sticks,” Mr. Lansky said.
Last year, he said, Detroit Army turned a profit for the first time with nearly 2,700 orders.
Mrs. Lansky is constantly looking for updates from her father about the business – and the Lions.
“I’m obsessed with Dan Campbell,” she said. “I’m obsessed with Ben Johnson. I’m obsessed with it all.”
However, her father still dwells on missed opportunities. When the NFL presented its annual draft in Detroit last year, Mr. Lansky said he would have liked to host a pop-up shop near the festivities. But he didn’t have time for it. Although Mr. Lansky now runs his business through the e-commerce marketplace Shopify and an online fulfillment center, Detroit Army is still essentially an army of one.
“There’s a lot more I’d like to do,” Mr. Lansky said.
With that in mind, he said, he hopes his daughter, now a high school senior, will become more involved and perhaps even take over one day, growing the company into something even bigger.
“It’s probably time,” he said, “to make it a little more grown up.”
