Launched in 2015 on Instagram, Sporty & Rich was first a magazine before becoming a fashion brand. Founder of the brand Emily Oberg, who was born in Calgary, Canada, now shares her time between Los Angeles and Paris, where the Sporty & Rich headquarters are based. The label opened its first boutique in New York in 2023, taking over the former Dior Homme store. Today, the brand also boasts over 120 retailers worldwide. This growth means that the brand can look forward to opening further boutiques around the world.
FashionNetwork.com: How did it all start?
Emily Oberg: I started Sporty & Rich as an Instagram page. I used to love tumblr and blogspot, and when Instagram was launched, I decided to move everything over to the platform. I always loved to archive images of things I was inspired by, whether I referenced them at some point in my life or not. I am stimulated by visually beautiful things and very much into aesthetics. For me it was for personal use, and I guess others found inspiration in the images too. I then turned it into a print magazine, launching 4 issues which I self-published. It wasn’t until 2018 that I launched the apparel arm of the brand in a real way, doing pre-order and consistent drops.
FNW: Sporty & Rich went from a small apparel collection to opening its first boutique in New York. Why choose New York as your first location?
E.O: We felt that New York was still the epicentre of shopping, and it made sense to open in SoHo. It seemed the most relevant. We have very strong sales in the NYC region and so it was both a business and instinctual decision. I moved to New York when I was 20 and would visit SoHo every weekend. To me it was a dream to open a store in the place that helped shaped who I am today.
FNW: Generally speaking, which markets are working well for you in the United States?
E.O: Los Angeles, Miami, and New York do great for us. I think these metropolitan cities do the best because people are focused and invested in their health and well-being as well as their style and what they wear, spend their money on, and value.
FNW: Are you preparing to open a second boutique? What other markets around the world are responding well to the brand?
E.O: We are definitely opening a second, third and fourth store but TBD (to be determined) where exactly the next one will be. London is a priority because we have a huge market there online as well as for wholesale. Other top markets online are Korea and the UAE.
FNW: How many stockists in the world currently sell the Sporty & Rich brand?
E.O: Around 120. We mostly focus on international so that customers within the US buy directly from our website or flagship.
FNW: You share your time between Paris and Los Angeles. What links do you have with these two cities?
E.O: Los Angeles is home and Paris is where I decided to base the company because of my CEO, who is from Paris (Editor’s note: David Obadia, also founder of Harmony Paris). I have been going to Paris for 4-5 months every year for the past 5 years and it also feels like home. For me, it is the perfect balance. In LA, I have the lifestyle— the sun, working out, healthy eating and nature. In Paris, I can experience a real city that is inspiring and has a rich culture and history. LA is not the most inspiring place so it’s important for me that I have both.
FNW : Do you have a specific plan for Paris. Would you develop the brand in the City of Light?
E.O: That is my dream and ultimate goal for the brand. We are starting to grow our market share in France, we have not specifically targeted the French consumer, but we are seeing that with the influx of wellness and health, French girls are starting to discover our brand.
FNW: Sporty & Rich is also sold in several French luxury hotels. Is wholesale expansion in hotels, sports clubs and resorts an interesting niche for you?
E.O: Yes definitely. For me, luxury hotels are such a big part of the lifestyle aspect of the brand. Where you go on holiday, where you stay, what you bring with you, what you do whilst there, it’s all relevant and part of the Sporty & Rich lifestyle. For me, S&R is more than just a brand, it’s a world that I’ve created and curated and aspire to be part of myself, and I think that’s what has resonated with others too.
FNW: As for collaborations, how do you choose them and what collaborations are in the pipeline?
E.O: I like to collaborate with brands who I personally admire and wear and shop from. It has to make sense to me and our community, it can’t feel random or forced. We have more Adidas drops coming as well as another drop with Hotel Du Cap Eden-Roc in Antibes, South of France, and some others which I can’t mention for now.
FNW: How do you see your brand developing?
E.O: I see us going deeper into the wellness and health world. I am most passionate and interested in health and so I want to do things that I love, that’s when things work well. We are not chasing trends or chasing what other brands are doing, for me it’s much more selfish than that. Music producer Rick Rubin described being a creative person as an inherently selfish act, and it’s true. When you are a creative, you create purely and solely for yourself, and when you start creating for other people and making things you think they will like, it’s no longer art, it becomes commerce. I think we do a good job at merging the two, there is a super fine line and I think success comes when you are able to walk that line ever so elegantly. If you go too far on either side, it’s a complete disaster.
FNW: Where do you produce your clothes and how would you like to be sustainable today?
E.O: We produce a majority of our products in Los Angeles. We also use factories in Italy, Spain, Portugal and China, who produce the best activewear, hands down. In creating a fashion brand, it’s hard to be sustainable when producing clothing, however as a small team we do make efforts to offset that production such as partnering with leading environmental non-profit organizations to help reduce and offset the damage that producing garments does to our planet.
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