Ginger Ressler co-founded Fabletics in 2013 with her husband Don Ressler and Adam Goldenberg, with the brand soon after adding actress Kate Hudson. A Southern California Native and former Division 1 track athlete, Ressler began the brand with the vision of creating affordable but high-quality activewear.

Over the last decade, Fabletics has taken the activewear space by storm, with its innovative VIP membership program and wide variety of apparel and accessories.

In addition to Hudson, the brand has notably collaborated with celebrities including Kevin Hart and Khloé Kardashian, making it a household name in the activewear space.

Athletech News spoke with Ressler about her experience in co-founding Fabletics and how the company has stayed relevant and continued to innovate in the activewear space over the last ten-plus years.

The following conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Athletech News: What gap did you see in the market that prompted you to co-found Fabletics? 

Ginger Ressler: At the onset of the brand, I had a very personal connection to what we were creating with Fabletics. As a Division 1 track and field athlete, fitness has always played a huge role in my life, as well as juggling my role as a mom of four. I take my workouts seriously, but having fun is most important – in and out of the gym. I wanted to bridge this “fun first” thought process and creativity to create high-quality items at an affordable price point. I knew this brand would resonate with others, and help people feel empowered to look and feel their best. 

ATN: What differentiates Fabletics from its competitors in a crowded market like activewear? 

GR: One of the things that sets Fabletics apart is the versatility of the products we make – I can go from a workout to school pickup, to a meeting, or go run errands – while feeling confident in the same outfit. These products simply work for my lifestyle, and I knew I wouldn’t be alone in that thinking.  

But when you’re one of many, I think it’s important to have multiple differentiators that help set you apart from the crowd. At Fabletics, we have many reasons as to why we have a loyal member base. First, we’re the largest digitally native activewear brand in the marketplace. Secondly, our unique, flexible and innovative VIP membership model allows us to build a deeper relationship with our core consumer. And, most importantly, it’s always been our mission to create fashionable, high-performance active lifestyle products that are accessible – made for every body shape – at an attainable price point. 

ATN: What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a company and how have you overcome them? 

GR: No matter who you are and where you’re at in the journey of your brand, challenges come and go. At Fabletics, we listen to our members and believe success comes by 1) creating a huge variety of products that are technical, stylish and comfortable, 2) continuing to push the boundaries by offering accessible sizes and price points, and 3) collaborating with people who we value to showcase our brand, like Kevin Hart and Khloé Kardashian, for example. 

After ten years, Fabletics continues to create an amazing product that stands out amongst competitors. We’ve always prided ourselves on our ability to listen to what consumers are asking for – body diversity and accessibility continue to be at the top of that list. As we strive to create unique products that stand out, we push ourselves to create new, stylish, and purposeful products and expand categories, like launching Fabletics Scrubs in 2022. 

ATN: How important has expansion into new areas been for Fabletics over the past few years, such as adding menswear and the launch of Fabletics FIT? 

GR: You’re hitting the nail right on the head – expansion and diversification have really helped drive growth for Fabletics since the brand’s inception. Throughout the years, our expansion into new categories, like Scrubs, Men’s, Lounge, Sleep, Any-Wear, and Swim, has allowed Fabletics to become more than your average traditional activewear brand. With a broader offering comes a broader reach – the ability to engage with an entirely new customer that perhaps we didn’t appeal to before.

Simultaneously, as we’ve expanded into these new categories, we’ve also aligned ourselves with incredible ambassadors – like Kevin Hart, and Khloé Kardashian – who have helped establish brands, curate thoughtful collections, and provide input into new designs and styles. Our curated collections created with well-known celebrities have been successful because we’ve taken the time and effort to align ourselves with people who share the same passion we do for fashion and fun.

With every new partnership, we aim to raise the bar. Our two-part Edit collection with Khloé Kardashian in fall 2022 was one of our most successful to date. Her authenticity, keen eye for style, and genuine and passionate fanbase heightened attention to this incredible collection. We aim to recreate that success time and time again.

ATN: What’s next for Fabletics? 

GR: 2024 marks Fabletics’ 10-year anniversary – a momentous milestone. To celebrate, we’re kicking off the year with a special archive curation for our Luxe360 Collection, a quarterly release of elevated, high-fashion and high-performance items that are designed to make you feel your best while keeping movement in mind. This anniversary-themed capsule is a nod to some of the brand’s most legendary pieces of all time – taking you through a decade of style.

As the year goes on, we’re looking forward to launching additional collaborations with some well-known celebrity partners, rolling out some exciting brand partnerships, relaunching certain categories, continuing to build on our retail presence and experience, and striving to always develop the best products possible for our members. 

The post CEO Corner: Ginger Ressler on Fabletics’ Activewear Rise appeared first on Athletech News.

Fabletics is celebrating its recent 10-year anniversary by releasing the Luxe 360 Archive Collection designed by co-founder Ginger Ressler. Featuring new takes on beloved pieces, the twelve-piece collection is size-inclusive, ranging from XXS to 4X, and includes a range of pieces including men’s shorts, sports bras, leggings and jackets. 

The Fabletics Luxe 360 Archive Collection includes items such as the Femina Top, a lightweight layering top, the One Short, lightweight men’s shorts, the Cozy Fleece Go-To Sweatpant and the Define High-Waisted Legging. Starting Tuesday, the collection is available for purchase in Fabletics physical stores and on the Fabletics website.

“Being able to celebrate a decade of Fabletics is truly a humbling experience,” Ressler said. “Looking back at what we’ve created, and the loyal Members who have championed Fabletics from the start, makes me so proud of what we’ve accomplished over the last ten years. As a thank you to our Members, this celebratory Luxe 360 Archive Collection pays homage to some favorites, with a reimagined design we know our fans will love even more than the originals.” 

Known for affordable activewear with a premium vibe, Fabeletics is driven by its VIP membership program, where a monthly membership fee provides access to 20-50% off activewear, free shipping on all orders over $49.95, and free access to the Fabletics FIT app, for trainer-led on-demand workouts.

Founded by Adam Goldenberg, Don Ressler, and Ginger Ressler in 2013, Fabletics has had an eventful and successful decade. The brand famously added Kate Hudson as a co-founder in 2015 and collaborated with the actress to launch its first celebrity-inspired line. Hudson now holds an advisory role with Fabletics and reportedly owns 20 percent of the company.

Under the umbrella of TechStyle Fashion Group, Fabletics became heavily reliant on analytics to grow its activewear lines. In 2017, the brand added dresses, swimwear, and footwear. In 2020, Fabletics expanded to menswear and signed Kevin Hart as an investor and face of the new line. The brand also recently teamed up with Khloé Kardashian on an apparel line, which dropped in September and was Fabletics’ most popular collaboration to date.

This story has been updated to include additional information on Fabletics’ product lines.

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MyFitnessPal has named Mike Fisher as its new CEO, a move that comes after the global nutrition and food tracking app recently announced a new partnership with Kate Hudson.

Fisher, who has previously served at Etsy, Quigo, AKF Partners and PayPal, succeeds Dinesh Lathi, who will remain involved with MyFitnessPal and serve on the company’s board of directors.

“I’m thrilled to join the MyFitnessPal team,” Fisher said. “As CEO, I’m excited to pair my passion for consumer-facing technologies with MyFitnessPal’s commitment to improving human wellness. MyFitnessPal’s mission to empower its users to achieve their weight management and broader health goals resonates with my own aspirations to live a healthier life and my desire to help others do the same.”

In addition to his corporate leadership experience, Fisher is a U.S. Army veteran. He’s also served on the board of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and currently serves on the board of the West Point Association of Graduates.

Private equity firm Francisco Partners acquired MyFitnessPal in 2020 from Under Armour. The leading nutrition and food tracking app has garnered over 200 million users in 120-plus countries since launching in 2005.

Christine Wang, partner at Francisco Partners, noted the “tremendous growth” in the health and wellness technology sector and that Fisher’s experience will enhance the user experience and assist “millions more” in achieving their goals.

Earlier this month, MyFitnessPal teamed up with celebrity and Fabletics co-founder Kate Hudson (and her personal trainer) for its “Small Steps, Big Wins” initiative, where users can join a free one-week plan to build healthy habits. 

“I’m excited to partner with MyFitnessPal because we share a vision to help inspire people to get healthy and just take those small steps to get them started,” Hudson said. “This is something I’ve been passionate about for years so developing the Small Steps, Big Wins Plan with them was a natural next step after using the app for years to track my nutrition.”

The seven-day program includes Hudson’s tricks for staying inspired and her favorite affirmations for hitting health goals. It also encourages users to lower sugar intake and boost their hydration levels.

Corporate wellness platform Gympass added the popular nutrition app as one of its offerings due to a high number of requests from users and clients last year. The MyFitnessPal app also introduced sleeping tracking insights in recent months, integrating sleep data from Apple Health and Health Connect by Android to show how certain food choices can impact the length and quality of sleep. 

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Reform RX has announced the launch of its digitally-connected Pilates reformer and a showroom/filming studio in Newport Beach, California. The reformer targets all muscle groups in a results-driven workout, and allows for a versatile fitness practice, inclusive to those with injuries.

RX members can access a growing content library, filled with over a hundred live and on-demand classes from expert instructors and celeb trainers like Alyssa Sparks, Lucas Lombardo, and Kourtney McCullough, who has trained Jennifer Aniston and Kate Hudson. Reform RX classes range from 5 to 60 minutes, allowing fitness consumers to get in a workout that fits their schedule.

“Our RX instructors base their classes around the Reform Method, a dynamic and contemporary practice I curated in 2015,” Reform RX CEO and co-founder Yvette McGaffin tells Athletech News. “This method encompasses the key components that make up the musculoskeletal system: flexibility, endurance, and cardiovascular fitness, which ensures a full-body workout every time. It’s a holistic approach to your fitness regime, so it promotes a stronger mind-to-muscle connection, meaning you’re able to get out of your head and focus on your physical movement.” 

The commercial grade RX pilates reformer tracks movement and communicates resistance selection via a processor, allowing the user to track fitness data and receive biometrics on movement, calories burned, and heart rate. The digital connectivity component is essential, says McGaffin.

“By presenting consumers with their post-workout analytics, it gives them the transparency and motivation they need to help them improve their physical health and achieve their fitness goals. This was a really important feature that we felt was essential to incorporate into our RX reformer; showing the tangible results that can be achieved from a reformer Pilates workout not only incentivizes the consumer, but also educates the wider industry,” McGaffin says.

The digital connection also fosters a sense of community. According to McGaffin, feeling connected improves the user experience for those who train at home. Members can follow other RX users and gain inspiration from their workouts thanks to a community feature. “It improves motivation, knowing that others are participating in the same classes, and it heightens the sense of being part of a group of like-minded individuals, even if they’re in an entirely different state,” says McGaffin.

The connected reformer, which costs $4,995, boasts a 21.5-inch, sweat-resistant, casting-enabled ultra HD touch screen and custom speakers with surround sound.

“At-home reformer workouts have historically been confined to industry professionals, whereas now, with Reform RX, we’re able to bring that boutique studio experience – complete with expert instruction – into people’s homes and empower them to feel confident and safe during their reformer workout,” McGaffin notes.

Reform RX says it will expand its team of RX instructors in the coming year, launch a live class schedule on the platform, and announce commercial partnerships to give more fitness enthusiasts access to the RX.

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According to a recent article in the WSJ, the workout-clothing company could be valued upward of $5 billion. Fabletics was founded in 2013 by Adam Goldenberg and Don Ressler and is owned by TechStyle Fashion Group. The brand aims to fill a void in the market between high-end brands such as Lululemon and less expensive brands. The Group has selected Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Barclays Plc and Bank of America Corp. for the IPO. Fabletics would be one more emerging consumer-focused brand entering a hot IPO market. Other recent IPO’s include the healthcare apparel startup Figs Inc. Figs, which specialized in better fitting scrubs, began trading less than two months ago and has a roughly $6 billion valuation. The stock has remained above its IPO price even after shares tumbled.

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