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When it comes to everyday attire, the presence of logos routinely goes in and out of style. But at the gym, they’re sort of always there. Whether we’re wearing Alo, Set Active, Splits 59, FP Movement or Nike, what we wear to work out says something about who we are. And for those of us who’d like to telegraph that they’re up on all things new, there’s a new brand of choice: Manchester, England-based Adanola.
Adanola was founded in 2015 and has 878,000 Instagram followers. According to its founder, Hyrum Cook, it took about five years to start to hit its stride. Now, five years after that, it’s starting to push for the U.S. consumer. In January, it invested in a campaign fronted by Kendall Jenner (288 million Instagram followers), who posted a shot from the campaign on her own page, too.
According to Cook, the brand started to break through when it launched its Ultimate Leggings. At $65, they’re not cheap, but they are priced competitively. For reference, Alo’s run between around $98-$128, Set Active’s between around $72-$80 and fellow up-and-comer Four Three Seven’s range from $75-$90.
Then, in 2023, the brand released a popular collection designed in collaboration with Kim Kardashian’s former assistant-turned-influencer Steph Shep (1.9 million Instagram followers).
But Jenner was the brand’s biggest bet yet, in terms of a campaign or influencer marketing. “We want to be really selective with who we work with,” said Niran Chana, the brand’s CEO who joined from Gymshark about a year ago. “Kendall is the upper echelon of influencer marketing right now. We see her as someone who is timeless.”
Chana acknowledged that Adanola currently has a “low awareness point” in the U.S., but he sees that as providing a big opportunity. Jenner was part of the plan to raise the brand’s awareness stateside. It’s already proven effective, Chana said.
Sales are also increasing. Last October, Vogue Business reported that the brand had surpassed £50 million in annual revenue. Since then, a brand rep told Glossy, “profit has more than doubled, with a pre-tax profit of £18.9M for the year to March 31, 2024.” The prior 12 months’ pre-tax profit was £8.3 million.
As Adanola looks to expand its footprint in the U.S., the plan is multi-faceted.
First, it debuted at 35 branches of Equinox. “[Adanola] is already beloved by ‘it’ girls across the pond, [so] we recognized an exciting opportunity to introduce something fresh and exclusive to our members,” said Annie Walters, Equinox’s vp of retail. “Being first-to-market with coveted brands is core to our identity, and Adanola perfectly embodied this mission. Since launching our partnership, the collection has exceeded our expectations, resonating powerfully with our membership base. The enthusiastic reception confirms what we believed from the start: that Adanola’s distinctive approach to athleisure fills a genuine gap in the American market.”
In February, Adanola partnered with downtown New York’s Happier Grocery on a collaboration centered around the brand’s trendy “Coffee Bean” colored products. The partnership included co-branded coffee beans and a special drink: the Cold Brew Collagen Whip. The first 50 customers to buy the drink received the Ultimate Leggings in Coffee Bean. In tandem with this activation, the brand hosted a run club, Chana said.
Now, the brand is piloting programs with cool-girl fitness studios like Forma Pilates, where certain instructors are also brand ambassadors. “We want to have an always-on strategy in the U.S.,” Chana said, noting that the brand can’t have a Kendall Jenner moment on a monthly basis, but partnering with studios offers another path to brand awareness. At the moment, the brand is exploring opportunities such as hosting fitness classes and creating branded Adanola equipment, said Beth Harrison, Adanola’s senior brand marketing manager. Potentially, the partner studios will have deliverables themselves, in terms of social media content. Currently, the brand is partnering with Forma Pilates on a co-branded limited edition Varsity Tote Bag, which will be available via Forma’s online shop.
The activewear market in the U.S. is crowded, to be sure. But Adanola’s logomarked sweatshirts are becoming popular in a world where lifestyle and activewear brands alike are fighting for real estate on young women’s chests. Think: Parke, Dairy Boy, The Bar, Daily Drills and more. On TikTok, $95 Adanola sweatshirts that simply read “ADA” abound, and TikTok marketers talk about the brand’s rise from startup to “it” brand, attributing the rise, in part, to strategies like the Steph Shep collab and well-placed gifting.
According to Grandview Research, the global activewear market was valued at $406.83 billion in 2024 and is expected to see a CAGR of 9% from 2025-2030. According to Statista, the brands with the highest brand awareness in the U.S. are the usual suspects — Nike, Adidas, Puma, Jordan and Reebok, in that order. But in certain circles, such as the ones who frequent studios like Forma — the referral-based bicoastal pilates studio — those are not the brands attendees wear.
Surprisingly, Creator IQ, which measures earned media value found that Adanola’s momentum decreased year-over-year from March 2024 to February 2025. According to Creator IQ, Adanola earned $19.3M in EMV during this time period, down 17% year-over-year. However, it garnered mentions from more creators: around 1,600, marking a 17% year-over-year improvement.
“Given this expansion of Adanola’s creator count, as well as some of the high-profile creators and celebrities who posted about the brand during this time period, including Kendall Jenner, Olivia Yang (@olafflee) and H.E.R., it’s certainly possible that Adanola is poised for a big breakthrough in the U.S. market. There are promising signs for Adanola that aren’t usually present for brands that post middling growth rates in our metrics,” said Alexander Rawitz, Creator IQ’s director of research and insights. Adanola shared that it has seen a 93% increase in follower count on TikTok (where it has over 116,000 followers) in the last 12 months and a 37% increase on Instagram.
While influencers are great — and necessary to grow brand awareness — Chana insists they are not his ultimate goal. “We want the best $65 leggings in the market — in hand feel, how it performs, how long it lasts. These are the important measures.”
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