Peloton and Adidas Join Forces on Apparel

Fitness phenomenon Peloton is doubling down on the athleisure wear trend in a new partnership with athleticwear giant Adidas. On March 18, the fitness brand announced a new 11-piece line—the Adidas x Peloton SS21 collection—which includes shorts, hoodies, tees, sports bras and joggers designed in collaboration with Peloton instructors. Ranging from $30 to $85, the apparel includes sizes XS-2X and spans men’s, women’s and unisex styles. It will be available beginning March 25 on both companies’ websites and in select Adidas and Peloton stores. The launch also includes a series of on-demand classes from Peloton, which kick off March 18. Peloton already sells apparel and accessories made by Lululemon and Nike, as well as additional products from brands like Beyond Yoga and Spiritual Gangster. A crowded space Peloton is certainly not the only fitness company looking to expand in apparel. Just this week, retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods launched its own athletic apparel brand for men, VRST. It will be available in more than 400 retail locations as well as online. The collection includes joggers, shorts, tees and hoodies, ranging from $30 to $120. VRST is Dick’s Sporting Goods’ second foray into apparel following the launch of Calia, an athleisure line for women, with musician Carrie Underwood in 2015. By 2020, Calia was the retailer’s second-best performing women’s apparel brand, behind only Nike. In October, rowing machine manufacturer Hydrow teamed up with athleisure brand Fabletics in a deal through which Fabletics produces all Hydrow apparel and Hydrow trainers exclusively wear Fabletics clothing during workouts. Meanwhile, fitness company SoulCycle has partnered with the likes of Lululemon and Nike. And other retailers, such as Target and Kohl’s, have also launched their own clothing lines. Adidas, on the other hand, recently announced plans to shift its business model to direct-to-consumer sales, which it hopes will make up 50% of net sales by 2025. That’s an increase from 30% in 2019 and 40% in 2020. The home fitness boom endures Fitness equipment sales increased by more than 130% last year, according to a report from the NPD Group. That includes cardio machines, free-weight equipment, home-gym weight machines, strength training products and products for yoga and pilates. Stationary bikes in particular experienced triple-digit gains of more than 170%, the report said. The exercise bike market is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of 13.3% from 2020 to 2027, according to a report from Data Bridge Market Research. Peloton has certainly benefited from this home fitness boom. Subscriptions grew to 1.67 million in 2020 as people were forced to work out from home. Increased demand for Peloton’s bikes and treadmills even reportedly caused a lengthy backlog of orders, delaying delivery times earlier this year. In response, the company recently announced it is spending $100 million to reduce delivery times. Peloton forecasts ending 2021 with 2.275 million subscribers.