HOW ALO YOGA TOOK OVER OUR OFF-DUTY WARDROBES

For someone who despises exercise, I am in possession of an inordinate amount of activewear. On last count, I discovered no fewer than 32 pairs of leggings, 15 sports bras and seven pairs of yoga pants in my wardrobe, and this despite a very recent, very thorough clear-out. I only manage to drag myself to the gym about twice a month, but these are by far the most-used items I own, a go-to on non-office days even when there's no class in my calendar – and they're almost all by Alo.

I first came across the brand back in 2018, when I was visiting Los Angeles for a family friend's wedding. While in the fashion world we look to London for up-and-coming talent and Paris for couture, LA has long been the city leading the way for all things sportswear – and so it wasn't long into my trip before I started spotting those three little letters cropping up all over the place. After multiple sightings in one day of off-duty, model-type girls looking effortlessly chic in pristine Alo shorts and crop-tops, I knew I wanted in, and a visit to the brand's gleaming white haven of a Beverly Hills flagship store only cemented its appeal.

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That day, I left with a pair of Alo's signature black flared yoga pants and a super-soft matching sweatshirt, feeling rather poor but pleased with myself for having discovered the 'under the radar' brand nailing that LA cool girl aesthetic before any of my UK counterparts. Little did I know of the obsession – both personal and global – that would soon ensue.

Alo Yoga was founded in 2007 by friends Danny Harris and Marco DeGeorge, recent converts to the transformative power of yoga who dreamed of inspiring more people to embrace the ancient discipline. Today, Alo, which is an acronym for stands for 'Air, Land, and Ocean,' boasts close to 100 stores around the world, millions of social media followers, a supremely popular fitness app, high-profile instructors on its payroll, and a next-level roster of celebrity ambassadors to boot. In early 2020, Harris told Forbes that revenue was around $200 million (£154 million). By March of 2021, in the grips of the pandemic, Fast Company reported that the brand's revenue grew by 150% to $500 million (£384 million). In October 2023, it was reported that Harris and DeGeorge were exploring a potential investment that could value the brand at approximately $10 billion (£7.7 billion).

'I wouldn’t say there was one breakout moment, but rather a few key ones,' Summer Nacewicz, Alo Yoga's SVP of marketing and creative, tells ELLE UK. 'Early on, before social media was big, there was the belief that Instagram could catapult our brand – and it did. We championed the yoga community, which brought awareness to both yoga (which wasn’t as mainstream at the time) and Alo simultaneously. Celebrities like Kendall Jenner discovered and fell in love with Alo early on, and that was obviously huge for us too.'

Having the likes of Jenner – along with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (a self-proclaimed 'OG fan'), Hailey Bieber, the Hadids and Taylor Swift, to name but a few – regularly decked out in Alo clothes certainly helped propel the brand into the big leagues, but there's much to be said for the brilliance of its signature 'studio-to-street' approach, too.

It's only in recent years that leggings and loungewear have become an acceptable uniform in non-sports contexts, let alone a genuinely stylish option. But it seems that Harris and DeGeorge saw the athleisure boom coming from a long way off with Alo's fashion-forward collections that prioritise sleek design as much as they do performance and comfort. Not only can you wear these clothes in the gym and then straight to a social occasion without so much as raising an eyebrow (or breaking out in too much of a sweat), but you'll actually want to.

For we Brits in particular, who suffer from the innate affliction of never wanting to look like we've tried too hard, the appeal of this laid-back yet put-together look cannot be understated. In recent years, other activewear brands like Lululemon, Vuori, Skims and Gymshark have also muscled in on the athleisure action and seen their popularity soar as a result. Last year, the global athleisurewear market was estimated to be worth $358 billion (£274 billion).

It's of little wonder then that Alo set its sights on the UK to kick off its European expansion: the brand has already opened two London stores this year, including a 10,000 square foot flagship on the iconic Regent Street, with Knightsbridge, Covent Garden and Dublin locations also on the way. The bricks-and-mortar expansion means that customers can shop all of the Alo classics without the extra American shipping and import taxes they previously had to pay, but they are also plunged head-first into the luxury wellbeing-focussed lifestyle the brand has come to symbolise.

Alo stores are referred to as 'sanctuaries' complete with living trees, and host exclusive events, workshops and community classes in all manner of trending disciplines, from breathwork and sound healing to manifestation – 'infusing a touch of Los Angeles wellness into the heart of London,' as the brand puts it.

Undoubtedly, though, this immersive concept has reached its pinnacle at Alo's Beverly Hills HQ. 'The creation of the Wellness Club has generated unprecedented excitement around the brand,' explains Nacewicz, referring to the ultra-exclusive workout space in LA that has blown up on TikTok. 'The concept came about when we moved into this beautiful, historic building in the heart of Beverly Hills and wanted to create something for our community that was a living, breathing extension of Alo. It’s the epicentre of wellness, with a state-of-the-art gym and recovery technology, but also a creative hub equipped with three best-in-class music studios and a movie theatre, where musicians, actors, and producers come to get inspired and create.'

The influencers and celebrities who are invited inside can also make the most of an infrared sauna, cold plunges, cryotherapy chamber, beauty treatments, racks of Alo clothes, Goop salads and unlimited iced matcha lattes – before posting all about it on social media. It's ingenious marketing in the most Goopified way imaginable, and has only served to further bolster the brand's allure. In this wellness-obsessed world, who wouldn't want a piece of this lifestyle? Thankfully, to at least look the part, there's no actual exercise or hyper-exclusive invite involved.

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2024-08-21T14:26:39Z dg43tfdfdgfd