Virtua

It's that time of the week again! 🗞 Check out our weekly newsletter showcasing the top stories emerging from the sports, fashion, and outdoor sectors! Stay informed, stay ahead! #sports #fashion #outdoor #news

New Era Cap has announced the completion of its acquisition of '47, a privately held premium sports lifestyle brand. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The combined company, comprising two distinct, family-founded brands, is expected to generate approximately $2 billion in annual revenue and deliver an expanded and diversified product portfolio of apparel and accessories globally. "This transaction is an important milestone in the history of both brands as we continue the next chapter of our growth as a premier global sport and lifestyle company," said Christopher H. Koch, Chief Executive Officer of New Era. "We look forward to leveraging the complementary talent of our combined teams to continue strengthening our customer relationships and licensing partnerships, enhancing our premier products and delivering premium experiences to fans and consumers around the globe." The New Era and '47 brands will continue to operate separate e-commerce websites and serve consumers independently from each company's respective headquarters in Buffalo, New York, and Westwood, Massachusetts. The combined company will be led by Christopher H. Koch, Chief Executive Officer of New Era, and the current New Era and '47 management teams. Read full article: https://lnkd.in/eu5YVFuV

How Crocs and Stanley 1913 Veteran Terence Reilly is applying his brand-building expertise to HEYDUDE. While the executive is new to Crocs Inc.-owned Hey Dude, he brings extensive experience in nurturing iconic brands and building brand equity. Prior to joining Hey Dude as president in April, Reilly served as Stanley brand’s president since 2020, where he oversaw the drinkware brand’s meteoric rise. And before that, he helped build the Crocs Classic clog into the clog company’s icon product during his tenure as Crocs Chief Marketing Officer. To build up the brand, Reilly is going back to the basics. He’s looking to drive awareness and relevance, starting with the brand’s most popular silhouettes: The Wally and Wendy. When it comes to marketing, Reilly is leading with Hey Dude’s comfort attributes. In addition to everyday use, he sees three unique arenas in which he believes Hey Dude can win: travel, pre and post athletics and music festivals. Like its sister brand Crocs, Hey Dude is also pursuing collaboration opportunities with the right creatives and brands. But Reilly is intent on doing these things the “Hey Dude way.” Read full article: https://lnkd.in/e2D47uEg

The Paris Olympics is turning out to be a rare win for Nike, as the global sporting event has helped boost demand for the sportswear giant's new launches and edge out competition, website searches from research firm Similarweb showed. In the opening week of the Olympics, Nike and PUMA Group managed to increase visits to their direct-to-consumer sites, while adidas, HOKA and On all saw their visits decline compared to the week before. The visits peaked on July 31 to 2 million, following U.S. gymnast Simone Biles clinching her seventh Olympic gold medal after the United States earned their third gold in the women's team event. Out of those visits to Nike.com, 86,900 included a sale, while Adidas had a total of 532,500 visits with only 3,600 likely converted into product purchases, the data showed. Nike had said it was spending more on this Olympics than any previous games, as it hopes to revive sales and compete with upstart rivals. CFO Matthew Friend said in June that Nike was reinvesting nearly $1 billion in consumer-facing activities in fiscal 2025. Read full article: https://lnkd.in/evy6e77j

GO Outdoors LTD is set to open Europe’s “biggest ever outdoor retail shop” in the Vangarde Shopping Park, York. The 125,000 sq ft site will feature more than 380 brands across walking, camping and caravanning, watersports, running, fishing, horse riding, and climbing. It will also house its new concept cafe, Alpine Café. The superstore has created over 42 new jobs at the outdoors retailer, with 28 staff members joining from its old GO Outdoors York shop. GO Outdoors CEO Lee Bagnall said: “I am extremely excited and proud to open the biggest outdoor store in Europe. I am thrilled to be able to bring the very best brands, products and services to our customers in York, in our new game changing flagship store.” Read full article: https://lnkd.in/gJFchNgx

Gymshark has named Whitney Simmons as its first creative director for its Adapt range, which focuses on “comfy seamless designs”. The gymwear giant called Simmons “one of the most recognisable and inspirational fitness athletes and influencers in the world,” with the creator boasting over 4m followers on Instagram. She has been a partner to Gymshark for eight years and brought out five collections in that time. In her role, she will work closely with the brand’s product team on the creative direction and design for the upcoming Adapt Safari line and future Adapt collections, focusing on a specific collection every season to update, improve and bring new styles to life. Read full article: https://lnkd.in/efM6A8nT

Under Armour has announced the appointment of Eric Liedtke as Executive Vice President of Brand Strategy, following the completion of its acquisition of UNLESS Collective, a zero-plastic regenerative fashion brand. After a 26-year career at adidas, where he served as Brand President and Executive Board Member from 2014 to 2019, Liedtke, along with industry executives from adidas, Quicksilver, and R/GA, founded UNLESS in 2020. Their goal was to pioneer a sustainable approach in the industry by demonstrating that plants could replace plastics in the production of apparel and footwear. Eric will serve as Executive Vice President of Brand Strategy and be globally accountable for amplifying Under Armour's brand identity and storytelling, its comprehensive strategic planning process, and executing transformational initiatives that accelerate growth for UA while continuing to lead and curate, UNLESS. He will report to President & CEO Kevin Plank and oversee UA's brand presence through category marketing, consumer intelligence, creative, marketing operations, loyalty, social media, sports marketing, and all strategy functions. Read full press release: https://lnkd.in/eb7R2AQD

Haglöfs appoints Andreas Oliver Lorenz as new Chief Commercial Officer. Andreas brings a wealth of expertise from the consumer sector, having spent much of his career with leading companies in the field. Over the past decade, he has held various global and regional leadership positions at adidas and On, where he gained significant experience in strategic partnerships and driving profitable growth. Daniel Tseung, interim co-CEO, stated, “Andreas’s deep industry knowledge and strategic mindset make him a significant asset to our team. His leadership will be instrumental as we strive to grow our market presence and achieve our commercial objectives.” Read full press release: https://lnkd.in/dQdP57zF

British cycling clothing brand Rapha, has announced the appointment of Fran Millar at its new CEO. Millar, whose previous roles at Sky and later Ineos include Director of Business Operations and Head of ‘Winning Behaviours’, joins Rapha from clothing company Belstaff, which was acquired by Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS Group in 2017, where she was appointed as CEO in October 2020 by Ratcliffe to improve the struggling brand’s financial position and enact “cultural change”. “Fran Millar’s career is a testament to her dedication to cycling and her ability to drive transformative change,” Steuart Walton, the co-founder of RZC Investments, which bought Rapha in 2017, said in a statement. “Fran’s deep understanding of the cycling industry, combined with her proven track record in leading high-performance teams and brands, positions her uniquely to guide Rapha into its next chapter.” Read full article: https://lnkd.in/e4Be_sPG

Authentic Brands Group has announced that it has established three foundational licensing partners for Ted Baker, securing the future of the brand in the US and Canada. The new lineup includes the renowned United Legwear & Apparel Co., BCI Brands and Peerless Clothing Inc. “Ted Baker is an iconic high street brand known throughout the world for its classic British designs,” said Jarrod Weber, Global President, Sports and Lifestyle at Authentic. “Establishing a new and vibrant core business in the US and Canada is an essential building block for the revitalisation of this brand." "Today we announced strategic partnerships with three esteemed Authentic partners that will reinforce Ted Baker’s presence, bolster its credibility and forge enduring connections with premier retailers across the US and Canada.” Read full article: https://lnkd.in/edqXPFuG