Despite competition from some of the biggest companies in the world, including Nike and Adidas, Bandit Running has quietly become one of the most interesting brands in running.
The New York-based brand is known just as much for its hyperlocal focus on running clubs in New York City as for its design aesthetic, which draws from streetwear and fashion without sacrificing performance. Through hosting community runs and sponsoring big races, Bandit has courted serious runners and niche communities, leading to praise from influential runners’ blogs like the Substack Trail Waves.
Bandit’s focus on core running communities has helped it grow enough to start expanding outward — that has included partnering with big brands like Asics, sponsoring major races like the Chicago and London Marathons, and, most recently, hosting its own races. In May, Bandit hosted the Bandit Grand Prix in Brooklyn. The event, featuring multiple 5K and 3K races around a Brooklyn warehouse throughout the day, drew thousands of attendees from 21 countries. Bandit styled it after Formula One events, with exclusive products, an extensive spectator area and an afterparty for its members.
Winners of the various races received over $15,000 in cash rewards and over $2,000 in Bandit gift cards throughout the day. And Bandit Running has more events planned. Applications for its 16-week running program opened this week, and another major Bandit Grand Prix is planned for next year.
Co-founder and chief design officer Ardith Singh told Glossy that it’s been an intentional philosophical choice for Bandit to not copy other running brands’ aesthetics or playbooks.
“There’s not a single picture of a runner on my mood board,” she said.
Instead, Bandit draws from art and architecture, as well as New York high fashion, in its products, branding, store design and even its business model. Bandit has built a dedicated audience for its regular “product drops,” which happen roughly every three months and typically sell out quickly. The brand has built a large social following, including over 250,000 Instagram followers, and has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on its YouTube documentary series “Dialed” over the last two years.
In all of its markets, Bandit has focused on local running communities. Its first store opened in 2022 along a popular running route in Brooklyn. From the store, Bandit has hosted its own runs and partnered with local running groups. It has continued the strategy at its second store in New York and its third in Chicago.
Now, it’s starting to turn its attention to the international market. Bandit recently held pop-ups and released themed capsule collections for both the Barcelona Marathon in March and the London Marathon on April 26. It has also added wholesale accounts in European markets, including the Spanish running store Odda, selecting markets with prestigious marathons and vibrant running communities, such as Tokyo and Berlin.
“In the New York City bubble, it feels like everyone is wearing Bandit,” Singh said. “But when we were in Barcelona, there were only a few people wearing it. And when I see that, I just feel like it’s an opportunity. We’ve barely scratched the surface of running internationally.”
Part of Bandit’s growth has been its membership model, launched in 2021. For $125 a year, members get access to early product drops, free gifts like cushioned socks, free shipping on all orders and an annual $75 gift card. They also get discounts on both Bandit gear and Asics, a brand Bandit has collaborated with regularly, including on the Novablast 5, dubbed one of the most popular running sneakers last year by GQ.
That membership model is already paying off, with members spending over three times as much as non-members and referring an average of two new customers each. Members get 20% off their membership fee for each referral, plus an immediate $20 gift card. Overall, the lifetime value of a Bandit member is five times higher than that of non-members.
Bandit Running raised nearly $15 million in funding in 2023, plus another round of $16 million late last year. The brand has expanded physically, now having four flagship stores in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Los Angeles and Chicago. And it is now carried in dozens of retailers across all six continents. A brand representative declined to share specific revenue.
Key to Bandit’s success has been its consistency at bringing in new customers, according to Andrew Rutledge, a partner at the creative studio View Source, which has been designing and shaping Bandit’s branding and imagery since the brand’s founding in 2020. After initially expanding from just socks to a full running-apparel category, Bandit has resisted the urge to venture too far from its core product and audience. For instance, it has partnered with Asics on limited-edition sneakers rather than expanding into footwear itself.
“To scale a business, you have to keep telling the story,” Rutledge said. “Metrics count, but consistency of storytelling is important, too.”
