Sporty & Rich expands to swimwear

Sporty & Rich continues impressive growth with category expansion.

The loungewear brand founded four years ago by Emily Oberg launches its first swimwear collection on Monday, marking the brand's latest category expansion. Last year, Sporty & Rich made their first foray into swimwear with a collaboration with Solid & Striped.

Sporty & Rich's debut swimwear collection includes bikinis and one-piece swimsuits in a brown, off-white and green color palette. Both styles include high cut bottoms and strappy tops.

The collection also features pieces such as tees, shorts, button-ups, crew necks and hats that are meant to match swimwear.

A campaign image from the Sporty & Rich swimwear collection. Courtesy of Sporty & Rich

"I make things I want to wear that I feel maybe I can't find, or things I found but want to improve," Oberg said about his design process. . “Everything is quite simple. I would never do fashion pieces - anything risky or too inventive. That's a lot of dress uniforms and just a lot of basics and staples that I wish I had in my wardrobe now and also 10 years from now."

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The Sporty & Rich swimwear collection arrives as the brand continues its growth trajectory, according to the company. Sporty & Rich said it saw sales jump from $400,000 in 2019 to $4 million in 2020, thanks to the boom in loungewear as people stayed home during the COVID-19 pandemic and looked for options comfortable clothes. The following year, the brand generated sales of $12 million and expects sales of $20-24 million this year.

"People always wore [loungewear] before it became popular [during the pandemic]," Oberg said. “I don't think tracksuits and comfy clothes will ever be worn. There is a time and a place for that."

While Oberg has seen unprecedented growth amid the pandemic, she said the rapid pace nearly destroyed her brand as she struggled to keep up with demand.

"Sometimes growth can kill a brand," she said. "It happens a lot and before COVID[-19] we were quite small. Our sales were nothing special but with COVID[-19] they grew and the growth almost killed us. I would say we We were about to do it, but we quickly realized."

Oberg supported his business by expanding his team and putting systems in place to operate more smoothly, such as building a customer service team and using a new logistics center and of a new factory.