Our Story

That’s me, wearing a St. Louis Steamers kit for my kindergarten photo. I’m Jamey, founder of Fort de Lou and I’ve been a soccer fan for almost my whole life. As most 40 somethings from St. Louis know, the indoor soccer Steamers were pretty bad ass in the 80’s. They’d sell out the arena all the time and win games left and right. In fact, we have a prized family photo of Steamer’s legend, Tony Glavin, playing soccer with my older brothers in our yard.

Unlike my older brothers, I was never really good at soccer. I was much better at drawing and making art. In elementary school, I would never miss art day, even if I had to hide flu-like symptoms from my parents. I'll spare you the messy details, but this got me into trouble at least once! I’ve always been obsessed with making things look cool and my passion for this led me to have a long career in graphic design.

It has been an incredible journey. I've won a handful awards for my ad campaigns, logos, and branding work. As for my 9-to-5, I’m a creative director at a top notch design firm in St. Louis where I help my clients bring their brand to life. 

But I'm ready for a meaningful side project. I've always wanted to do something that perfectly captures the heart and soul of my hometown. St. Louis has this amazing gritty, vibrant, old school spirit that just resonates with me, and I thought, I want to design some cool stuff that embody that spirit.

My goal is to make each product feel like a piece of this city's identity. 

I've experienced St. Louis from different angles. I grew up in Florissant, fell in love in South City, and now I'm raising a family in Ballwin. This city has shaped me on so many levels and Fort de Lou is my way of celebrating that.

I've got a lovely wife and two little ones who inspire me every single day. Our favorite thing to do is go to our soccer fortress, Citypark, and support STL CITY SC! So you can expect plenty of soccer apparel from Fort de Lou. 

I hope you love the fresh looks we are kicking out. Thanks for being a part of this journey with us! If you have any questions about what we do or how we do it, don’t hesitate to reach out at hello@fortdelou.com