Dive Brief:
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Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters launched its activewear line, Without Walls, on Monday, which can be found at select stores and online at fairly moderate prices.
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The gear includes a mix of apparel aimed at various fitness activities, from cycling to yoga, and features prints like flowers, Aztec patterns, cosmic galaxies, and animals that the company’s fans would be familiar with.
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The company also said it would feature outdoor and fitness brands Newline, Asics, Onzie, Seea, ALTERNATIVE, Columbia, Mowgli Surf, Poler, Vans, and Patagonia in stores and online.
Dive Insight:
Leave it to Urban Outfitters to find a hipster name for its activewear line: Without Walls. The retailer has definitely kept its bohemian stamp on the fitness apparel; some of the gear could just as easily fit in at a San Francisco street fair as at a hot yoga studio. In fact, we may be getting to the point where activewear is just another form of streetwear. Right now, there’s no end in sight to this trend: As long as all kinds of apparel makers and retailers join in, it will be increasingly more difficult for brands like Lululemon to bounce back or retailers like Gap’s Athleta or Under Armour to maintain their edge. In the meantime, for customers, prices should get competitive and choices of styles, endless.
