No. 017: Sporty & Rich is like goop, but less culty

plus, a Shazam for scent, Ikea gets into resale, and I think there's hope for dating

Hi! Welcome to the Friday edition of Brandiose, sorry I’m late, have a great LDW and remember that it’s still summer and you can still wear white after Labor Day!!!!

🧲 OBSESSION OF THE WEEK

Have you ever smelled something so familiar but couldn’t put your finger on what it reminded you of? Or, walked into a hotel lobby and been like what is that incredible smell, give me 14 of them right now?

Google Labs spinout Osmo is building the Shazam for AI to help.

It has pretty big (positive) implications on humanity:

• helping perfumers create scents in a lab vs. problematic techniques they might be using now

• combat mosquito-borne diseases by making a more effective repellent

• eventually, detecting diseases by scent

This is the kind of innovation we need in AI! Friendly and not displacing human’s capacity for intellectual output.

🍿 BRAND NEWS

10/10

• While I love Airbnb as a brand, I’ve had my fair share of consumer horror stories. So I love this campaign from Vrbo (h/t

  Remy Smidt
  ), which directly calls out Airbnb via cheeky billboards that say things like “rest assured, the bed won’t be inflatable.” Shots fired.

• Nike and Lego struck a partnership aimed at kids that promises to “inspire a world where sport and creative play always win”. It will be a combination of co-branded products, content and experiences.

• IG is becoming Myspace with music you can add to your profile. Put this in the category of features that no one cared about, asked for, or really wants?

• Speaking of partnerships, NFL owners voted to allow select P.E. firms to own up to a 10% stake in teams to increase liquidity and make potential improvements to stadiums, among other reasons. I don’t know enough about this stuff to have a POV, but let me know what you guys think!

• This was a cool read on PF candle Co., an LA-based candle brand’s collab strategy. They’ve worked with everyone from and it seems like the throughline is being clear with your offering, but giving the partner creative control too.

• My enduring brand crush Heaven Mayhem launched accessories — laptop cases, compact mirrors, and luggage tags. This is an interesting move because aside from them being SO cute, it feels like a perfect combination of product innovation meeting brand identity. These products are so aspirational (no one needs them) but are executed in such an on-brand way, that they feel like must-haves.

• Walmart is adding digital shelf labels to its stores, meaning they can change prices more easily. They claim this isn’t for dynamic pricing reasons (aka changing prices based on supply/demand, which is was airline and hotels do)… but we’re not sure. If more retailers do this… it might make everyday shopping even more expensive.

• Speaking of Walmart, they are also adding collectibles like vintage watches and trading cards to their site to compete with Amazon and eBay. Drama.

• In similar news, Ikea is launching a resale site, which is an interesting move for furniture that’s certainly not built to last. Everyone’s betting on recommerce!

• It’s US Open Season! Grey Goose tapped Frances Tiafoe for a campaign to promote the infamous honey deuce cocktail, which uses Grey Goose as the official vodka of the US Open (an 18 year sponsorship).

• Liquid Death (who I covered in depth here) and Yeti just released a single corpse-shaped (and sized) Casket Cooler to "keep your cans cold for an eternity” in an auction that’s current highest bid is $55k. Not sure who is paying that for this but it’s great PR nontheless.

Not for me, but for someone!!!! I guess

🎯 DEEP DIVE: Sporty & Rich is kinda sporty, very rich

the world of Sporty & Rich

Context

Sporty & Rich is one of my favorite brands right now, period. They are killing it on so many fronts — from clothing to collabs to experiences.

The" “brand” was launched by Emily Oberg as an IG moodboard in 2014, where she curated images of vintage places, people, and things that were inspired by all things retro, with a nod to the country club aesthetic. This is how the brand would be described today.

She did this while working as a reporter at Complex and then moved on to creative director at popular streetwear brand Kith, a great training ground for learning the ropes of launching and growing an ultra-cool apparel brand with pop culture cachet.

In 2018 Oberg went into the deep end of launching her own brand, after working on it as a side hustle for 2 years while at Kith. She started by selling small runs of product on preorder via small NYC manufacturers (aka white labeling) and dealing with all customer service issues on her own. They scaled up slowly, not without the typical struggles of a clothing brand — but in Oberg’s words:

“What started as a few images pinned to my desk is now a profitable, global brand with over 120 wholesale accounts, a flagship store in SoHo, 40+ employees, an office on Avenue Montaigne in Paris, and collaborations with some of the biggest brands in the world.”

Emily Oberg

details her personal journey on her Substack and it’s a great read — shoutout fellow Substacker

Jake Bell

for putting me on to it.

So what’s their secret sauce?

The Business

Performance

The company is privately held so performance metrics are hard to come by, but this Glossy article said they did ~$30 million in revenue in 2023. If I were to guess they are likely going to bring in somewhere between $35-$50 million this year. Pretty impressive for a brand that’s less than 10 years old.

Product Portfolio

The brand has expanded to include many categories of products:

• Apparel for men, women’s and kid’s across sweats, denim, activewear, swim, sleepwear, knitwear, and more

• Beauty

• Accessories & Eyewear

• Books

• A spa (at their NYC Flagship)

The Details

Sporty & Rich is the master of a cool collab and a brand that walks the walk. Just a sampling from the last year:

Wall Street Drop

As seen in

Emily Sundberg

’s Feed Me newsletter this week, the brand just launched a Wall Street collection inspired by the golden age of finance perhaps? As Sundberg mentioned, it’s not clear who is buying these, but one thing is clear — we’re in the era of “finance is cool again” and Sporty & Rich are not ones to miss a trend.

NYC Storefront

In July 2023, Sporty & Rich opened their first IRL storefront in SoHo, New York. But it isn’t just any store. The brand calls it a “wellness club” — complete with juice bar and a spa that specializes in lymphatic drainage massages. Um, sign me up right now.

Adidas x Sporty & Rich

Adidas and Sporty & Rich have collabed a few different times — most recently, they dropped a collection for the 2024 Summer Olympics — a fully red, white, and blue range inspired by both the colors of the USA and France that included activewear, loungewear, and of course, shoes.

Hotel-du-Cap-Eden-Roc x Sporty & Rich

Sporty & Rich has collaborated with the iconic Hotel-du-Cap-Eden-Roc in the French Riviera for two consecutive summers. The collection features a mix of t-shirts, crewnecks, baseball caps, pinstripe pajama sets, and swimwear that combine the two aesthetics perfectly.

Sporty & Rich x Le Bristol

Last fall, the brand collabed with another French hotel, Le Bristol in Paris, on a capsule that was inspired by “cool french girl style.” Again, love how it inspires a sense of place and takes cues from both brands.

Hot Take 🌶️

There’s a lot we can learn from Sporty & Rich and their insane growth, especially compared to a brand like goop who has been having a bit of a rough go.

Here’s my take on Sporty & Rich’s 10/10 playbook — take notes:

• A clear aesthetic & brand identity: Given the brand’s foundation as an IG page made up of retro-inspired visuals (aka new-age Tumblr vibes), it’s not surprising that the brand has a clear sense of who they are and who they are definitely not. It’s down-to-earth with a touch of luxury. It’s crisp hotel pajamas with fries at midnight. Oberg has mentioned that the brand would never do runway shows because it feels too “fashion” (aka out of touch) and that she’d rather use the money elsewhere. The vision is clear.

• A truly founder-led brand. It’s clear that Oberg is the beating heart of this brand and that she creates the things she would want to see, have, an experience in this world. It’s highly aspirational. But she also realizes it’s not just art. Here is her inspiring take on the creative process:

  “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…If you go too far on either side, it's a complete disaster.”

• A fictional “sense of place.” Sporty & Rich only has one store, yet the brand’s presence feels… bigger. Between the brand’s photography, social media, events, brand collabs, and of course, products, the brand truly transcends time and place. Says Oberg: “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.”

• A smart collab strategy. Sporty & Rich chooses collabs that allow them to further their brand footprint rather than reach new audiences (though there is a little of that too). Hilariously, Erewhon won’t collab with them — maybe the one brand that’s too exclusive for S&R.

Free Ideas ☁️

Honestly, I think Oberg is already thinking about how the brand could be bigger than what it is today. So I’ll use this section to highlight some of the things she has dreamed up for it instead.

Lifestyle / Modern Country Clubs

Oberg has mentioned that she’d love for Sporty & Rich to have clubs of some kind. She told the New York Times that she wants to create “the place I want to go to that doesn’t exist” — a wellness center with tennis courts, a pool, restaurant, spa, naturopath “and colonics.” “For me, it’s more about the world and the lifestyle that we’ve created rather than the product.” The SoHo store is just the tip of the iceberg.

Brand “Spinoffs”

An Instagram tease earlier this year revealed that Oberg is launching Sensual Sport, a sexual wellness brand. We don’t have many details (yet) but really curious how this brand is going to be similar & different to Sporty & Rich. I could also see the brand going into fitness accessories (yoga mats, weight sets, tennis rackets, etc.) or maybe food?! Sporty & Rich granola? Very chic.

A Media Empire?

Given Oberg’s roots in journalism at Complex and the existence of a S&R book, it could be interesting to see the brand enter the media world. With roots in wellness and luxury, would makes sense if Sporty & Rich were the destination for learning about all the newest hotspots, treatments, trends, diets — from the people you’d want to hear about them from. It could be like Into the Gloss meets goop.

Unsurprisingly, you guys were pretty split on whether Victoria’s Secret can make a comeback — 31% said absolutely, 41% maybe, and 28% say nope.

🆕 TREND REPORT

Source: Financial Times

• Fragrance is winning. The new “lipstick effect” is fragrance, per the Financial Times. Consumers may not be splurging on high-ticket items, but a nice new perfume can take the edge off of our collective existential dread. (But really, I think TikTok has made everyone think they need a signature scent).

• We’re into corpcore. In the midst of brat summer and demure fall, we’ve found ourselves enamored with another trend: ‘corpcore.’ As detailed by High Snobiety, it’s all about menswear inspired ‘fits that feel very 90’s (S&R’s Wall Street drop is right on trend).

• “Resale” needs a rebrand. Resale retailers don’t know what to call “resale” — some prefer “preloved,” others “used,” some “secondhand.” Personally I think “vintage” is the best rebrand of this era — though I know there are limitations to the term.

• TJ Maxx is thriving. “Value retailers” like TJ Maxx, Ross, and Marshalls are experiencing increased demand as consumers are more and more drawn to a bargain. Also, dupe culture is alive and well.

• ChatGTP (finally) understands the assignment. A trend on IG and TikTok is asking ChatGTP to “roast” your feed. I don’t really know why people are so obsessed with this (it feels really self-serving to post a screenshot of your roast), but I do like that we’re finding ways to have fun with our robot friends. A sentence I never thought I’d write.

🎲 ONE LAST THING

Pique’s ‘love wall’ in McCaren Park, Brooklyn

I’ve written a lot about the decline of mainstream dating apps on this newsletter (Bumble and Hinge in particular), so this activation by dating app Pique was cool to see. The app set up a ‘love wall’ in Brooklyn’s McCarren Park where singles can post a polaroid of themselves with some personal details. If someone sees someone they’re into, they can leave their contact information, and Pique will connect them.

Also this article felt like a glimmer of hope. It details 11 new dating apps that ambitious founders are working on, with names like “Friend of a Friend” and “First Round’s On Me.”

Should I start a matchmaking component to this newsletter? I have some pretty incredible single friends. Maybe DM if you are, too. Ok bye!

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have a great week.

- Sabena