Professional basketball-inspired fashion house Dannijo Pro launched with star power and community excitement. The euphoria from a Warriors’ win against the Pistons in a thrilling finalé carried over to the party at Chef Tyler Florence‘s famed Miller & Lux American Steak at Chase Center. Plus it was International Women’s Day so it felt all kinds of right to celebrate two successful female entrepreneurs who’ve scored major points in the sports fashion game. Sisters Danielle Snyder Shorenstein and Jodie Snyder Morel, the team behind brand Dannijo, said they started Dannijo Pro during the pandemic out of restlessness, sheer willpower and the realization that NBA women’s clothing and accessories are limited. Don’t I know it – many brand activations during our recent NBA All Star Weekend sold solely male stuff. Harumph. The project was also a way for them to stay connected since Jodie lives in Florida and Danielle is eternally Yay Area.
Dannijo Pro boasts many successful plays, like enlisting local artists Rachel Brooks and Baba Diop of Xelkom to embellish bespoke pieces. All the partygoers were wearing them in a fabulously wild Paris fashion week meets locker room mashup. They looked gooooooood. Team jerseys and jackets that fit, are flattering and fire? Put me in, coach. And the goodwill was gargantuan – so many Warriors icons came out to show support at this intimate affair. I’m saying the ratio of ballers to civilians was jaw-dropping. Like a dummy I’d whipped myself into a blurred frenzy over All Star Weekend at every pre and post party hoping to meet players. Unsuccessfully. My future self coulda told me stay home girl, you’ll get ’em next month! Ain’t life wacky?
City leaders were there like DA Brooke Jenkins with sister-in-law, realtor Nneka Jenkins, and Mayor Daniel Lurie. DA Jenkins was decked out in team gear coming from the game, and she saw Mayor Lurie in his trademark dark suit and said, “Where’s your jersey?” He was in the right place for one! Becca Prowda, his wife, was definitely decked out in the latest Dannijo Pro.
Specifically who all was at the launch? Oh honey, the née Snyder sisters are absolute legends because utterly everyone was there: Stephen and Ayesha Curry, Draymond Green, Coach Steve Kerr and his entire family, moi, Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy, Kevon Looney, Moses Moody, Gary Paton II, Zaza Pachulia, the great E-40, Joe Lacob, DJ Shabazz, and omg I saw a woman in a custom Dannijo Pro Spurs top and ran over and gushed that I’m San Antonian and you love the Spurs too? “Well my husband plays for them,” said Jada Paul, Chris Paul’s wife. Stop it! She had lovely things to say about her new hometown.
Local media luminaries abounded too, such as moi, the very hard-working Drew Altizer, Nob Hill Gazette‘s Katie Sweeney (she wrote the Most Eligible 2025 List including MOI!), Vogue‘s Angela Tafoya (read her coverage of SF Ballet Gala!), and best selling author Erin Carlson who moonlights at Town & Country (read her SF Ballet Gala coverage!). We media types were the types to eye the plump, fully loaded gift bags.
A local comic myself, I was surprise thrilled – sthrilled? – to run into none other than comedian Nick Kroll. Literally! I was sidling down the aisles at delicious gorgeous Miller & Lux oh excuse me Draymond ducking around or possibly under him and Zaza, passing by Coach Kerr and Mayor Lurie in deep conversation maybe about how inspiring a team is like inspiring a city – something Coach Kerr talked about at the Mayoral Inauguration which I covered here, when I saw Kroll’s famous face, that unmissable punim. Out of context. It took me a minute. Then it was a total mic drop moment for me.
I said Chef Tyler Florence this party you’re hosting is awesome. This is like every game night at Miller & Lux amirite? He said it’s rarer than you think to get this many in the organization out in one night, but, “Danielle is a really good friend, she’s been coming to the restaurant for years. And the Warriors family has such a tight connection. Her launching this product here, her beautiful clothing line with the Warriors at Miller & Lux, specifically after a Warriors win, it’s the cherry on top of everything.” And this man knows cherries.
I asked co-founder Danielle Snyder how she was feeling. She said, “I’m so happy. I mean I think it’s really a testament to how special the Bay Area is and how powerful the community is. When people do something, the community really shows up to champion and support it – I love that about us – it’s really unique. There’s something very special about the Bay Area.” Agree!
The clothing itself is epic. I immediately ordered several pieces online. Everyone looked like they were NBA team fans and also after-party ready. These are street pieces, high-end, utterly chic street pieces. The details are amazing – Rachel’s hand-painting, Boba’s intricate crochet stitch work, and crochet stitching on athletic gear is deliciously subversive, don’t you think? Traditional, soft “women’s work” edging around indomitably male NBA pieces really tells the fearless story of Dannijo Pro. The brand elevates what we think of as team gear, adding bling, crystals, color, texture…it really is about texture for me, two sisters texturizing and deepening the relationship between fashion and fandom. You’re proud to wear the pieces, to stand out in an arena, and you’re also proud of your team – team and taste – it’s what this officially-licensed NBA fashion line is all about.
Back to Nick Kroll. I found myself in the luxurious private banquet room just sorta standing around chatting with him and Stephen Curry. Palsy walsys, you know? Maybe we were all chatting, or maybe I was awkwardly standing there while they were chatting. Either way, I was thinking spring forward tonight – I’m gonna LOSE an hour with my new besties? I asked Curry how his Dad jokes are. He said fair. Then what the heck I invited them both to my monthly Boom Boom Room Comedy Showcase (March 19 is the next one) cuz you gotta shoot your shot, right? Mine was a cross court shot, so to speak. But it was also so Dannijo Pro, you know?
Why not channel the hustle of two sisters who love each other cross-countrily, and who managed to own NBA fashion in just a few years through sheer force of will? Who put their fashion sense to work, found a niche, blew it up, and grew their family to include the entire NBA? For them, NBA might stand for Never Be Average. As my new friend Coach Kerr probably says, the best offense is a great de…constructed bespoke stitched bedazzled hand-painted reimagined fanwear. Find Dannijo Pro online at Dannijopro.com and on IG at Dannijopro.