The Retro U. line of college athletic apparel was established in 2006 by Andrew Gephardt and Chris Ponteri, owners of Afterimage Apparel, LLC. Retro U.’s vintage-style t-shirts celebrate collegiate sporting events of yesteryear with a unique flare. The premium fitted t-shirts feature retro designs created by graphic artist Todd Taylor, which in many cases are based on actual program covers or other artwork from the original events.

The subjects of Retro U.’s first designs are defunct and generally forgotten college football bowl games from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. They include the Grape Bowl, Salad Bowl, Aviation Bowl and Cigar Bowl. In all, the owners have secured rights to produce shirts for 20 defunct bowl games and are in the process of securing rights for an additional 20 games, ranging from the 1940s to the 1980s. While these bowls no longer exist, Retro U is excited about bringing them back to life.

In 2007, Afterimage extended the Retro U. collegiate athletic apparel line to include t-shirts commemorating anniversaries of basketball and football national championships, bowl and tournament appearances and other significant events in collegiate history. The first design in this line was a retro shirt remembering the 30th anniversary of Marquette University’s 1977 men’s national basketball championship.

Owners Andrew Gephardt and Chris Ponteri met while students at Marquette University. Both graduated in 1988, Gephardt with a degree in Business Administration and Ponteri in Communication. Ponteri also received his MBA from Marquette in 1999.