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Inside India's Booming Sportswear Market

With gym culture sweeping the nation and beauty ideals changing fast, international sportswear giants and local players are gearing up for India’s biggest fitness boom to date.

BY CHRISTOPHER MORDANCY, FEBRUARY 15, 2017 05:30 https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/global-currents/inside-indias-booming-sportswear-market

MUMBAI, India — Last month, a record-breaking 42,000 participants took part in the 14th edition of the Mumbai marathon. Set against a backdrop of the city's historic Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, elite and amateur runners joined Bollywood celebrities, sports personalities and business tycoons in a bid to cross the finish line, making the run the largest mass participation sporting event on the Asian continent.

Over the past few years India has rapidly caught up with the wider global fitness trend. Driven by the country's growing wealth, changing lifestyles, and rising urbanisation, an increasing amount of Indian consumers are becoming more health conscious and are adding new health and wellness routines to their hectic lifestyles as a result.

From 2015 to 2016, the Indian sportswear market grew 22 percent, outpacing the segment's global increase of 7 percent according to Euromonitor. By 2020, it is expected to grow an additional 12 percent CAGR (compound annual growth rate) with sales expected to reach $8 billion.

"There are many factors at play here," explains Bandana Tewari, Vogue India’s editor-at-large. "Rising incomes and discretionary expenditure in urban India have allowed people to focus increasingly on health and wellness, as well as rising awareness of lifestyle diseases. The proliferation of international brands represented by sports and Bollywood stars have kept sportswear in the public eye fuelling this drive as well."

Meanwhile, running, cycling and team sports are amongst India's fastest trending exercises — the number of gyms in the country is projected to rise 7 percent year-on-year till 2020 — and the rise of social media in the country has shifted consumer perception of what is now considered to be 'body-beautiful'. A growing number of consumers – both female and male – are emulating the daily fitness routines and sportswear purchases of Bollywood stars and famous athletes.

With these social, cultural and market shifts continuing in the years to come, India is gearing up for its biggest sporting boom to date. This makes the country’s sportswear sector increasingly attractive to a host of local and international brands.

Surprising Social and Cultural Shifts

Though it has an exceptionally high number of underweight people among its poorest classes, India also has an obesity problem among the more affluent. In 2014, it was the fifth most obese country amongst men and jumped to the third rank for women — with over 20 million of them being obese, as reported by British medical journal The Lancet.

Motivated by this, government backing was one of the catalysts to initiate the fitness movement that started about three years ago. Making use of subsidies, local councils started focusing on fitness accessibility by making public jogging tracks, gyms and swimming pools.

A mainstream interest in yoga has also been reignited, following Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's declaration of June 21 as International Yoga day in 2014 — resulting in millions of people joining collective efforts to practice the country's 5,000 year-old discipline. The buzz around India's two 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic medals also helped push fitness onto the public agenda.

"In my opinion, the biggest driver [of sportswear purchases] is the fact that India is a very young country," says Tewari. In fact, India is set to become the world's youngest country with 64 percent of its population in the working age group by 2020, and for many of them beauty standards have radically changed from those of past generations. “In the past, people were not as conscious about their looks as the youth today who are also more careful about what they eat. In fact, being overweight used to be celebrated as looking good because it was seen as prosperous,” says Bengaluru-based Euromonitor research analyst Shreyansh Kocheri.

"Previous generations made no bones about the hourglass figure being the beauty ideal [in line with] visual imagery of gods and goddesses depicted in books and temple carvings," agrees Tewari. "But the millennial beauty vocabulary has changed to include terms like lean, ab-fab, and muscle tone, making the famous S-Curve take a back seat," she adds. Driving the sportswear trend further into the masses are Indian pop culture icons, who are becoming self-proclaimed spokespersons for the movement. "Bollywood is an integral part of Indian households and everyone looks up to Bollywood celebrities and the trends they follow. When they come out and tell their followers to have a much better and healthier lifestyle, people listen," adds Kocheri.

Indeed, in the past year alone, several Bollywood actors have voiced the importance of a healthy lifestyle and looking fit. This year's Vogue India January 'Body-Beautiful' edition featured Bollywood stars Hrithik Roshan and Lisa Haydon. Roshan has been at the forefront of India's fitness movement after he launched his popular activewear line HRX in 2013. Additionally, actress Deepika Padukone was one of the faces of Nike's 2016 'Da Da Ding' campaign; Bollywood superstar Salman Khan was appointed as Goodwill ambassador for the 2016 Rio Olympics; and Priyanka Chopra's sculpted body can be seen in this summer's remake of Baywatch.

Regulatory Changes Create Opportunities

International sportswear brands were among the first to spot an opportunity, with many of them entering India in the mid-1990s. For those that did, franchising was the only viable business model. "Previously, companies could not come and open up their own stores in India. They had to get into a partnership with a local player that needed to have a higher stake than the brand," explains Kocheri.

Over the years, a flood of local franchisees got into business with aspirational sportswear brands, facilitating a rapid expansion of their presence throughout India.

Today, 80 percent of India's sportswear market is dominated by the "Big Four" global players (Adidas, Reebok, Nike and Puma), with others such as Under Armour, Fila and Lotto, domestic multi-brand sportswear retailers like Planet Sports and Royal Sporting House, and emerging local players, collectively battling for the remaining 20 percent.

Between the "Big Four," Adidas AG — parent company of Adidas and its subsidiary Reebok — currently holds a 45 percent share of the market, operating all of its 760 stores through the franchise model. "We would like to take this number [of own retail and franchises] up to 1,000 stores by 2020," says Dave Thomas, managing director of Adidas and Reebok India. Competitors like Puma and Nike also run their operations in the country through franchising — all of Nike's 200 outlets are licensed by local franchising partners.

In the past it was seen that a smaller store was less rent, which meant more profits. Now the logic is, a bigger store will drive profits. However, change is afoot. In September 2012, India's Department of Policy and Promotion permitted 100 percent foreign direct investment across single-brand retail. Two years later, Adidas became the first multinational sportswear company to get the governmental nod to open single brand retail in the country — a similar application filed by Nike in August 2014 was rejected.

The shift in regulations has provided brands with opportunities to rethink their distribution strategies, and many are now doing so as the challenges around franchising are starting to show. "The franchise model in the past has limited us a bit. It made us open a lot of stores but not all stores in the right places. They were neither strategic nor representing our brand properly or profitably," says Thomas.

Last year, Adidas AG shut 100 stores, as part of its move towards a directly owned retail restructuring across India's key cities, including Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. In the next five years, Adidas is set to open between 20 to 40 large format monobrand stores. The way the firm approaches franchising will also evolve. "We'll show our franchise partners what's possible for our brand. In the past it was seen that a smaller store was less rent, which meant more profits. Now the logic is, a bigger store with better products and a better experience for the consumer will drive profits," Thomas adds.

New Players Enter the Race

"We see more demand every day with more people coming to our website and retailers," says Rajiv Gaba, national sales head at Punjab-based sporting goods company Vector X. The brand, which prices its products below Nike and Adidas, counts over 500 stockist in India, including e-commerce giants Flipkart, Jabong and Snapdeal.

Still, popular Indian sportswear labels like Wildcraft India, Future Lifestyle and HRX are finding difficulty penetrating a market that is becoming increasingly crowded. "Domestic players have only now started looking at this growing trend in this space, and international players have a big head start," says Kocheri, who notes that the opportunity for domestic players is to dive into the masses by leveraging affordable price points to consumers in tier two and three cities.

However, for brands wanting to compete with established names like Adidas and Reebok, differentiating themselves by making product accessible to markets outside of the country's urban centres, might not be enough in today's online culture, where Indian e-commerce players like Amazon India, Flipkart, Jabong and Myntra act as brand middlemen.

"Having a large portfolio of brands ranging from low price to premium sportswear, we cater to all types of customer demands," says Arun Sirdeshmukh, head of fashion at Amazon India. "Between 2015 and 2016, sportswear in metro and tier two and three cities grew close to 80 percent. The footwear category grew 100 percent for metro and tier two cities and there’s also a strong demand we see from tier three cities which grew over 110 percent."

To broaden its reach, Adidas is diversifying and adapting to the Indian market reality. "We still have a mass-market appeal and in India that appeal does go down to a lower price-point. We've segmented and brought different products at different price-points to the market in different channels," says Thomas. "Being a driver and developer of the market will be about growing strongly, profitably and sustainably."

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REEBOK’S PRESIDENT THINKS TAKING A MIDDAY WORKOUT BREAK IS THE MOST PRODUCTIVE THING YOU CAN DO

ALEXIA BRUE, JANUARY 22, 2017 / https://www.wellandgood.com/good-advice/reebok-matt-o-toole-interview/

In this week’s Fit For Business, Well+Good’s co-founder and CEO Alexia Brue sits down with Matt O’Toole, president of activewear giant Reebok.

For nearly six decades, Reebok has been continually making waves in the activewear world (two words: the Pump). That’s continued under the leadership of current president Matt O’Toole, whose tenure has been defined by bold decisions.

Needless to say, the iconic brand—which was the first to focus on female athletes in the ’80s (hello, aerobics)—is most definitely trailblazing again. After (smartly) betting big on CrossFit, Reebok brought on millenial-approved (and workout-obsessed) it-girl Gigi Hadid as the face of their “Perfect Never” campaign this past fall, is collaborating with buzzy Instagram fitness star Emily Skye on a training shoe, and in March is introducing a new sneaker called The Floatride, made with game-changing new foam technology

But perhaps how O’Toole has had the most impact is through his investment in the company culture. The Chicago native gives employees an hour every day to work out—in addition to having a lunch break. And when you walk the Reebok campus (a 44-acre spot just outside of Boston), it’s hard not to notices the incredible camaraderie between colleagues.

Although the scenery will soon be changing—the company is moving into a new headquarters on the Boston waterfront later this year—this ethos will most certainly continue.

Here, O’Toole shares his best career lessons—and reveals some insider intel on what Reebok has in the works for 2017.

What distinguishes Reebok from other players in the activewear market, in terms of the product?

One thing we’re really proud of is that we were in fitness when fitness wasn’t cool in the early 1980s. There was really a big change going on with the introduction of Title IX, which gave women the same rights in terms of college sports participation and ultimately high school sports participation. Women at that time were saying, “Hey, I can sweat, work out, have muscles. I can really feel more empowered.” Reebok was the brand that was right there, the first one to make athletic footwear for fitness with our Freestyle, our Ex-O-Fit, and most of the models that are really popular for us today in our Classics line. It’s our authentic self. It’s who we are. We’re not some of the fast fashion guys posing as people who are in fitness.

A lot of research shows that most people don’t actually wear their sneakers or their leggings to work out in. Do you think the Reebok brand gives permission to people to lounge and live life instead of “being in the game”?

Yes, I think the fact that so many people are wearing fitness [clothes] as part of their lifestyle, whether it’s the sneakers that first started the movement or popular styles today and leggings, is a really good thing because it’s reminding us all of the importance of living a fitness lifestyle. I don’t think it’s going to be a short-lived phenomenon. I think this kind of versatility in the way we dress is going to continue.

Talk to us a little bit about this particular moment for Reebok: Sales are up and the future looks bright, but there are big expectations from Adidas, your parent company.

We feel like we’re the right brand at the right time. Probably the biggest macro-trend in terms of not just North America, but the world, is an interest in living a healthy and fit life. This is only going to continue to grow. There’s much innovation coming in our pipeline.

Can you give us a sneak peek of some of the innovations? Yes. I would say the one product that we’re most excited about is a shoe called Floatride that we’re debuting in March at specialty running stores. It’s a product that we’ve been working on for some time. [It has] a unique construction that includes proprietary foam that we created with a company in the UK. We really feel like we’re onto something, in terms of revolutionizing the performance of footwear—both from a cushioning but also from a lateral support point of view.

As a CEO, you’re making big decisions every day. Can you look back and cite a key decision that was a turning point for Reebok?

I’ll give you two: One business decision and one cultural decision. From a business point of view, the toughest decision was when we decided to refocus on fitness about five years ago. We had almost €700 million of team sports business. We decided to leave all that behind and replace all that business, and on top of replacing it, grow. We have 60 percent fewer products than we had five years ago, [yet] our business is bigger. This monumental focus on fitness and serving our consumer has really paid off for us.

Culturally, we had a day when we convened everybody who works here, and about a thousand-plus people worked out together on the back lawn. We explained that everyone, on top of their lunch hour, would have another hour every day to work out. [Since then] I think we’ve had a massive transformation—we all know each other in a different way now, and everyone is feeling a much healthier outlook, in terms of what it does for you to be moving and active.

That really shows how Reebok as a company walks the walk. How did the decision to give employees an extra hour to exercise come about?

We were heavily influenced by a professor at Harvard named John Ratey, MD, who wrote Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. It’s all about the social aspects and the cognitive aspects of actually being physical. Dr. Ratey’s research shows that as social dynamics change, we’re calmer, we’re clearer, we’re more focused. It absolutely turned out to be the case. I don’t want to say that we did it for some kind of altruistic reason—we’re definitely a for-profit enterprise here—[but] I think that the benefits have come back to the company in spades.

You also architected the CrossFit relationship, right?

If you think about in the ’80s, Reebok’s relevancy really came from group fitness and what was happening in studios for women, particularly aerobics. This is about us really needing to get back to some more tribal community-based fitness, where we feel like we’re not just working our body out, but we’re communing. For us, CrossFit was the perfect place to start.

Can you share some of your favorite efficiency hacks?

One thing that I’ve found crazy helpful is starting every meeting asking: “If we have a successful meeting, what are we going to accomplish?” And we write that down. If we really get clear on what we need to accomplish in the next 30 minutes and the decisions we have to make, I find we just crush it.

What early influences shaped you into becoming a business leader?

I grew up in Chicago, not too far from Wrigley Field, with four siblings. My older brother and I were serial entrepreneurs of very small measure. We started with regular stuff like cutting grass and snow blowing. Then we saw this trend where people were doing singing telegrams, so we started this thing called Balloon Brothers—we would deliver balloons in tuxedos to people’s houses. Then we bought a hotdog stand…. We all definitely got a flavor for the entrepreneurial spirit of creating something and satisfying your customer.

Is there a piece of advice that you give to people just starting out in their careers?

My experience working in larger companies is that there’s a feeling people have when they’re younger, where you want to carry the argument all the time and have your point of view prevail. Now that I’m an old guy [laughs], you realize that’s not the important thing. It’s much more about having people around you feeling invested, engaged, and owning not only the outcome, but the plan. Sometimes we’re just too eager to want it to be our way instead of letting it be what it needs to be for everyone to feel engaged. My experience is that most plans of action can be effective if everybody’s on board.

But I’m speaking from a big company point of view. This is different for an entrepreneur. You just want to keep learning, having new experiences, and challenging yourself. It’s a lot like how it is for our physical bodies. Our brains—and our own ability to adapt and learn—needs new stimulation.

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IN BALANCE: BURPEES AND BLUSH – IT’S OKAY TO BE FIERCE & FEMININE

May 3, 2016, by Olivia Rotenberg | Editor

A revolution is bubbling under the veneer of traditional female beauty. Women are celebrating what their bodies can DO, rather than how they look. It’s easy to get sucked into the body comparison game – we’ve all had moments where we feel inadequate. But it doesn’t have to be that way. ‘Hockey butt’ – one of the many things that bonded us together as one during our ice hockey season year after year. It’s what we all gained from hours of grueling on- and off-ice drills. Our butts and thighs strained the seams of our ‘skinny’ jeans and made us curse at the mirror as we struggled to buy pants that would fit. We complained to each other plenty, but inside, we all secretly loved it. That big butt made us strong and fast and fierce.

Of course, now ‘big butts’ are a desirable fashion trait, celebrated in the media and paraded down the red carpet by Barbie doll lookalikes. Silicone butt injections are a ‘thing’. Pop culture has taken our badge of honor for hard work and physical strength and made it into something that can be bought from plastic surgeons.

Women are unfairly comparing themselves to these cropped, filtered and retouched women – bemoaning every lump, bump, bulge and dimple on their own bodies. Not surprisingly, 1 in 8 women will suffer from anorexia, bulimia or another type of eating disorder – and it starts early. A study by a University of California professor found that nearly 80% of San Francisco fourth grade girls are watching their weight.

“The good thing is that the concept of traditional female beauty is beginning to show cracks.Women are increasingly speaking their own truth and letting their voices be heard.”

They are bonding together and celebrating the beauty of what their bodies can do, rather than what they see in the mirror – or more importantly, how other people might categorize their outward appearance. But that doesn’t mean we have to toss our makeup in the trash or stop shaving.

I recently heard an inspiring TED talk from Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, a journalist who spent two years with an all-female special ops team. In the process she came to an interesting revelation: “These women were both intense and feminine. They were tough as nails and sometimes painted their nails, they were happy to love CrossFit and cross-stitch. They embraced the ‘and’. … What I found shocked me, then shamed me. Because somehow even I, who had spent years writing about… women changing the world, somehow hadn’t expected these women to be funny or feminine.” Lemmon spoke about Ashley White, a tiny blonde woman who sold makeup, loved cooking and loved to head out for miles on a long road march. The women she spoke of were humble, warm, vulnerable, and generous, but also fierce, intense and incredibly badass.

The commonality amongst these women and those around the globe who are embracing the tough fitness message is that their self-image is defined by what their bodies allow them to do, through the satisfaction and pride they experience in pushing their bodies and minds to achieve. If they still want to wear a little makeup – who says this makes them any less badass? They are far more complex than the retouched images that so many women try to emulate.

“Women can be feminine, beautiful AND tough as hell. Through starting CrossFit as a Reebok employee, I’ve seen this mental shift in myself and in so many of my female colleagues.”

Each day at the Box, we sweat together alongside our male counterparts – doing the same workout. The coaches don’t doubt us for our small statures or pearl earrings. We aren’t shoved off in a corner and given three pound pink weights so that we don’t ‘bulk up’. We are challenged to push ourselves and, through this, we gain respect for our own bodies and for the women around us. Our male colleagues are just as supportive and this goes beyond the CrossFit Box. It makes a difference in how we work and interact with one another in the office.

“If we can do hand-stand pushups just as well as any man in the company, who says we can’t hold our own on stage next to top executives? That’s empowering.”

So all I can say is embrace your butt – whether it’s a hockey butt, or a CrossFit butt, it represents something far more than a body part or a sex symbol. It stands for confidence, beauty, and the hard work it takes to become the best version of yourself – in the office, at home, with friends, relationships, or in any other aspect of your life.

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The power of “and”: How women can be fierce and feminine

Aug 19, 2015 / Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, http://ideas.ted.com/the-power-of-and-how-women-can-be-fierce-and-feminine/

Journalist Gayle Tzemach Lemmon spent two years working on a story about an all-women special ops team within the US military. It prompted a surprising revelation.

This week, two students at the US military’s West Point Academy got attention when they graduated from the storied Army Ranger School. Why? Because they were women, the first females ever to make it through the grueling training program.

For the last two years, I worked on a story about the women who helped pave the way for these new Rangers, members of an all-women special operations team built to fill a security gap on the battlefield in Afghanistan. This group of 55 pioneering women — and its subset of 20 who joined Rangers and SEALs on combat missions — has challenged and upended the traditional “hero” narratives of war. These women were bound together by what they saw and did at the tip of the spear, even as government policy officially banned them from direct ground combat. These women were both intense and feminine. They were tough as nails and sometimes painted their nails, they were happy to love CrossFit and cross-stitch. They embraced the “and.”

Before I started working on the story, I had no idea these teams existed. I knew nothing about the kind of woman who raises her hand to take part in an experiment to put women out on combat operations alongside SEALs, Rangers and other special-ops units. Like many civilians, I had precious little contact with the minority within the minority that is women in uniform. I didn’t know what to expect when I met them, other than that I was sure they must be formidable and fierce.

What I found shocked me, then shamed me. Because somehow even I, who had spent years writing about war on the front lines and about women changing their world, somehow hadn’t expected these women to be funny or feminine. I was floored to find that these incredible women were perfectly comfortable in their own skin, being women of their own making. They were deeply connected to one another. They were open, warm, generous, vulnerable, gorgeous, gracious and honest. And they were badass, too.

What does it say about our culture that somehow we are surprised by a woman being fierce and feminine, being a warrior and a mom, wearing body armor and also eyebrow pencil? That somehow this mix of attributes is seen as jarring, incongruous and un-serious? The reality is that women are many things all at once in real life.

It was then I realized that part of the charge of the story I was telling was to draw out the dual story of these women. Those of us who live well outside the world of uniforms had to understand the reality — in all its dimensions — of those serving in combat night in and night out on America’s behalf.

I needed, in other words, to show that, just like other women all around the world, these women embraced the “and” and lived it every single day. And they brought that “and” to war with them, too. Lieutenant Ashley White was a petite blonde who sold Mary Kay makeup, loved making dinner for her husband and loved to put 45 pounds of weight on her back and head out for a miles-long road march. She was incredibly humble, naturally quiet and immediately fierce and intense the moment her work demanded it. Sarah Waldman loved to make pillows from old T-shirts for her family and to spend three hours at the gym working out. Nadia Sultan, their translator, was a civilian who received not a day of military training. But when her bosses said the mission needed her, she said yes to joining critical — and dangerous — combat operations to serve as the eyes and ears and voice of Ashley White and her teammates. She may have been a young woman sporting Steve Madden shoes in Orange County malls a few years earlier, but by 2011 she was as at home in her ill-fitting hand-me-down uniform as in any other clothes she had ever worn.

These women lived the “and” and showed that you can be intense and warm, serious and hard-charging and ambitious and caring and funny.

The flat-screen view of women so common in our popular imagination has always overshadowed its richer and far more layered reality. For women’s lives have always had the “and” at their center. We just rarely get to see it, which means we are still confused by the idea of women who enjoy Bridesmaids and then go out on special-operations combat missions. Who bake bread in their offices and bust out pull-ups when they hit the gym. Who love to knit and also love to push themselves to their outermost limits in the drive to be their best.

We have gotten used to seeing women who are either/or — either smart or feminine, warm or intense, motherly or hard-charging — but it’s time for us all, men and women alike, to move beyond the cardboard versions of real-life people. Let’s resolve to embrace the “and” and celebrate the real-life heroes committed to serving causes greater than themselves. They are all around us. Sometimes they may even be wearing eyeliner.

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(http://www.instyle.com/news/gigi-hadid-boxing-reebok-perfect-never-campaign?iid=sr-link1)

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Gigi Hadid Is the Ultimate Boxing Champion in Reebok's Inspiring New #PerfectNever Campaign

(http://www.instyle.com/news/gigi-hadid-boxing-reebok-perfect-never-campaign?iid=sr-link1)

ABOUT

Nobody puts Gigi Hadid in the corner.

The 21-year-old catwalk regular is putting her well-known love for boxing to good use as the face of Reebok’s athletic new #PerfectNever campaign. Dressed in fall 2016 designs from the sportswear brand, Hadid flaunts her impressively toned physique in a series of images that find her doing what she arguably does best: punching it out in the ring.

Of course, Hadid’s glow is inspiring us to pick up our gloves and head to the nearest gym, stat. But it’s not the only thing Hadid and the campaign’s main message is hoping to do. “Working out isn’t only physical for me. It’s mental. It helps me escape the noises in my head. It’s the only time my mind goes quiet,” she said in a statement, alluding to Reebok’s mission to help women everywhere feel empowered and confident as a result of the “social, physical, and mental” perks of working out.

“When I was a competitive athlete, I used to be so focused on being perfect that my coaches would take me out of competing all together,” she added. “I’d focus on my mistakes, which would breed more missteps—a domino effect. Until I learned to change the channel, to re-focus, re-set. It was my mistakes, my imperfections that motivated me most.”

That new philosophy is presumably what has driven the model to take on the world of fashion with nothing but panache. On Tuesday, Hadid took a break from her busy Paris Fashion Week schedule to share the news of her campaign and also inspire once again. “May we always remember that good is the enemy of great. Don’t settle,” she wrote.

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Teyana Taylor Flaunts Her Chiseled Physique in Sizzling New Reebok Campaign

(http://www.instyle.com/news/teyana-taylor-reebok-campaign-photos)

ABOUT

Pardon us while we take our fitness routines up a notch.

After giving us major fitspo in Kanye West's "Fade" video, Teyana Taylor is showing off her moves—and her enviable physique—again in a new campaign for Reebok.

The music artist shared a video from the campaign on Instagram Wednesday, which showed her rocking an orange and black striped onesie, neutral tights, slouched hot pink socks and red Freestyle Hi Reebok sneakers, commonly known as the 5411's.

"Reebok has always been a part of me," Teyana can be heard saying as she hits some exercise moves, including hip lifts. "The 5411s really opened the door to get more creative with women's sneakers. This is really like a dream come true." She went on to caption the clip, "#Shmood A proud moment. It's time to turn sh*t up! Teyana Taylor x @reebokclassics."

The self-proclaimed sneakerhead is now Reebook's official brand ambassador, joining the likes of Future, Gigi Hadid, and Kendrick Lamar, who have also appeared in the brand's campaigns. West's protégé will spearhead the re-release of the Reebok Classic Freestyle Hi, the first fitness sneaker that was designed for women, according to a press release.

"Teyana Taylor is the perfect collaborator to join the Reebok family," Todd Krinsky, Global Vice President of Reebok Classic and Entertainment, said in a statement. "She is a risk-taker who brings her own perspective to every project and she stands uniquely at the intersection of fashion, music and fitness, which are the core tenets of Reebok Classic. This partnership continues to solidify Reebok's commitment to women who express themselves through confidence in style."

Taylor also shared her excitement about the partnership, adding, "Reebok has always been a brand that's been very special to my heart ever since I was young. Freestyles were all I wanted to wear growing up so it feels like everything's come full circle with this partnership. The 5411's really opened the door for creativity in women's fashion, it gave permission for sneakers to be feminine. I'm honored to be the face of the Freestyle campaign for everything it stood for yesterday and what it still represents today."

This is just the latest time Taylor has collaborated with Reebok. She last worked with the brand in 2016 to release her own brazen red colorway of the Question Mid as part of the 20th Anniversary of the Allen Iverson sneaker, called the "Question Mid Teyana T."

The re-release fo the Freestyle Hi will include three colorways—the Triple Red, Triple White, and Triple Black—which are currently available at reebok.com and select retailers nationwide, with additional colorways set to arrive throughout 2017.

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Teyana Taylor Named the New Face of Reebok Classic

(http://www.highsnobiety.com/2017/01/25/teyana-taylor-reebok-classic/)

ABOUT

Dancer, actress and G.O.O.D. Music associate Teyana Taylor has entered into a long-term partnership with Reebok Classic, the brand has revealed.

Taylor exploded into the wider public consciousness last year with her sultry performance in Kanye West’s “Fade” video. Since then, ‘Ye’s protege has caught the eye with appearances in PAPER magazine and this literally-exhausting-even-just-to-watch fitspiration video.

It makes sense, then, that Teyana — clearly in peak physical condition — should join forces with Reebok as the brand get sets to relaunch its iconic Freestyle sneakers in the coming year. According to a statement, Teyana will bring a “fresh spin” to the shoe while providing support at promotional events. The likes of Gigi Hadid already have agreements in place with the sportswear giant.

Check out Teyana busting some bendy shapes above, and attempt to follow along without severing your spinal cord.

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REEBOK AND GIGI HADID HOST THE #PERFECTNEVER REVOLUTION, UNITING WOMEN TO CONFRONT THE NOTION OF PERFECTION

New York, USA – December 8th, 2016:

- Powerful event, hosted by Gigi, honors the next chapter in Reebok’s “Be More Human” brand campaign with a series of physically, mentally, and socially empowering activities - Aly Raisman, Lena Dunham, Ruby Rose, Zoe Kravitz, and Jessica Mendoza joined Hadid in an engaging panel discussion, challenging the notion of perfection   - Mass-workout experience celebrated Gigi's passion for boxing, as she sparred alongside guests

Reebok and brand ambassador Gigi Hadid hosted the #PerfectNever Revolution, an empowering event that challenged hundreds of women from all walks of life to come together and confront the unattainable notions and standards of perfection. A series of activities including a workout class, a panel discussion with prolific female trailblazers and an immersive, artistic installation brought to life Reebok’s underpinning brand spirit, “Be More Human,” and showcased the global fitness leader’s unwavering commitment to identifying and meeting the demands of women worldwide.

Gigi united with a group of inspiring women who are redefining perceptions in their respective industries and challenging norms.  Here, the women formed a dynamic panel where they spoke to their own experiences of the pressures of perfection and gave insight into how they combat these impossible standards.  Panelists included:

Aly Raisman – Reebok athlete and medal-winning gymnast Lena Dunham – Actor, writer, director, creator and star of HBO’s “GIRLS” and co-founder LennyLetter.com Jessica Mendoza – ESPN broadcaster; former medal winning softball player Ruby Rose – Actress Zoe Kravitz – Actress and musician

Lena Dunham said, “The reason that I started doing my job was to connect with other women, with other people, and to let them know that their flaws, their complexities and their darkness were an important part of who they are. So any time I can engage with something that busts open narratives, traditional narratives, about who women are supposed to be, I’m there.”

Ruby Rose said, “The #PerfectNever campaign resonated with me because I think that it embodies female empowerment and its about being authentic to yourself, being true to yourself and being the best that you can be. We are all so unique and if you can’t be true to that and be authentic to who you were born to be, then you are not living the life you deserve.”

Zoe Kravitz said, “The #PerfectNever campaign is important to be because I think its something we don’t see enough in the world. I think its important for women to embrace the fact that were not perfect and celebrate that.” Commenting on the panel discussion, Jessica Mendoza said, “Just listening to the other women, powerful women, talk about their own strengths and weaknesses and how they’ve gotten to where they’re at was one of the most powerful panels I’ve been on.”

Continuing the #PerfectNever story which debuted worldwide in early 2016, Gigi also participated with guests in an immersive workout experience alongside longtime trainer and Gotham Gym owner, Rob Piela. Showcasing her love for boxing, Hadid sparred with guests during the combat master class, which took the women through moves that strengthen and empower.

The event culminated in powerful and uplifting style as Reebok and Gigi invited guests to take part in an interactive installation. A sea of balloons featuring phrases reflecting negative notions and unrealistic expectations women face in their daily lives transformed into positive and inspiring words that brought the #PerfectNever philosophy to life. Engaging with women around the world in real time, the installation featured social commentary posted via #PerfectNever, reflecting the campaign’s truly universal message.

Commenting on the #PerfectNever Revolution, Inga Stenta, Senior Director at Reebok shared, “The #PerfectNever Revolution is a powerful expression of our Be More Human rallying cry. Reebok’s mission is to empower people to be the best versions of themselves not just physically, but mentally and socially. Each moment in today's #PerfectNever experience combined these beliefs with Gigi’s personal fight against the pressures of perfection. Our aim is to unite and inspire women of all ages all over the world to flip this conventional notion on its head. Potential is perpetual and limitless. Why stop at perfect?”

The #PerfectNever Revolution and Reebok’s partnership with Gigi marks the second phase in the #PerfectNever movement’s chapter. Its debut was led by a compelling campaign video featuring athlete and champion of empowerment, Ronda Rousey. The #PerfectNever campaign is a continuation of the Reebok ‘Be More Human’ marketing platform, a rallying cry for people to live up to their full potential, and continues the global fitness brand's mission to change how people perceive and experience fitness. Hadid and Reebok will work together to further champion this message.

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After not making the 2014 Reebok CrossFit Games, Katrin Davidsdottir was devastated. Determined to make a comeback in 2015, Davidsdottir trained her muscles and her mind, so a small physical setback wouldn't cost her her shot ever again... and it worked.

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