Beyond Yoga’s name is becoming increasingly literal.
The 21-year-old activewear brand, which was acquired by Levi’s in 2021, has been steadily expanding beyond leggings and sports bras. When Nancy Green took over as CEO in 2024, she said, 90% of the business was in Spacedye, the core material used in the company’s activewear, and leggings dominated the company’s sales.
But now, Beyond Yoga has a much broader assortment of categories. Knitwear, outerwear, dresses, jumpsuits and children’s clothing have all launched in the last two years, along with materials like linen, wool and fleece. Green said the company has hired new designers and product development experts with experience in these categories, and has leaned on Levi’s global supply chain and infrastructure to launch new categories at a fast pace.
“We wanted to be an active lifestyle brand, and we started to think, ‘What are the items we need to build into that?'” Green said.
Green said the brand’s initial products were built for its customer base in its hometown of Los Angeles, where the climate is relatively mild and stable all year. But new categories like puffer jackets and thick fleece sweaters appeal to other regions like New York City, which is Beyond Yoga’s largest market.
The shift toward new categories has paid off. Beyond Yoga’s overall sales grew 14% year over year in the last quarter, while direct revenue was up 40%. The newer categories, outside of the brand’s original core product of yoga pants, leggings and sports bras, are now driving over 60% of Beyond Yoga’s total revenue. Beyond Yoga’s annual revenue is over $150 million. In addition to its direct channels and owned stores, the brand sells in major retailers like Nordstrom, REI, Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus.
The latest launch in Beyond Yoga’s efforts to diversify its product assortment comes this week with Glowzone, a new high-sweat performance fabric that Beyond Yoga has been developing for the last two years. In keeping with the strategy of moving beyond activewear, the material is being used for both active products like sports bras and bike shorts, as well as apparel like cropped shirts and straight-leg pants. The team observed the rise of heated workout classes and created a material designed to withstand high temperatures in response.
Beyond Yoga is the latest activewear brand to successfully expand to lifestyle products. Rhone, Fabletics and Vuori have all released products like blazers, polo shirts, dresses and even jeans.
Activewear had a massive boom during the Covid years, but in the years since, the category’s annual sales growth has slowed from double digits to an average of 4-6%. Adding new categories can help recapture growth, according to Dawn Del Russo, fashion consultant and owner of the New York boutique Bella Dawn. Del Russo said it’s a viable strategy, but it does mean that active brands then have to compete more directly with fashion and lifestyle companies. They also have to deal with a variety of manufacturing costs. Denim, for instance, requires higher labor and manufacturing costs than activewear, on average.
“Since [active brands] already have the customer loyalty, it can help to add another segment to the brand,” she said. “But they can quickly fall short by not being fashion-forward enough. Many people have their dedicated fashion brand they love to wear, and it may be hard to create that change.”
But the growth opportunity is too good to pass up. Michelle Gass, CEO of Levi’s, said in the company’s most recent earnings call on July 8 that the company is pleased with Beyond Yoga’s expansion.
“Momentum continues to be fueled by newness and expansion into lifestyle categories, including the launch of a new linen capsule, which quickly became one of the brand’s top-selling collections,” she said.
Green said that both new lifestyle categories and Beyond Yoga’s opening of new retail stores, of which it now has over 14, have been key to its recent growth.
“The new categories are driving the growth, and expanding the store footprint is driving the growth,” Green said. “Diversifying has transformed the brand. And we will continue to evolve as we continue the high growth.”
