Activewear brand LSKD makes US debut, lands partnership with Life Time Fitness

Logan-based fashion brand LSKD has landed a deal that will see it supply activewear for 4,500 female trainers working at US health club giant Life Time Fitness just one week after making its international debut with a store in San Diego.

LSKD’s launch in California - the brand's fifth physical storefront - attracted 500 customers on the first day alone and comes less than a month after a location in Sydney’s Westfield Miranda was opened.

Speaking with Business News Australia, LSKD founder Jason Daniel said the grand opening of the new 240sqm space on San Diego's Pacific Beach, which serves as both an office HQ and store for the activewear brand, exceeded all expectations.

“It feels very surreal if I’m honest,” said Daniel, who was named the 2021 Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur of the Year before the brand’s head office was moved back to his hometown of Logan.

“Last year in April, we took our first trip to the US. To see the progression over the last 12 months - now having a head office and a retail store at the front - is phenomenal. To see almost close to 500 in the community show up is insane.

“We're very new over here. Australia is still a big focus. We’re opening more stores in Australia this year in South Victoria and Queensland. We’ll potentially have eight or nine stores by the end of year.”

As part of the opening, LSKD offered to exchange used sportswear like tights and shorts from any brand with a fresh pair. Any donated pieces were handed over to San Diego-based not-for-profit GOODWILL, which has 50 donation centres across the county.

When asked about why San Diego felt like the perfect fit, Daniel said the area was surrounded by dozens of gyms and had a strong fitness culture.

“We wanted to find a location that felt aligned to our community and within the fitness community. We spent a lot of time out here; we know the area quite well. Fitness is really growing in San Diego, so it felt right,” Daniel said.

“I suppose a lot of brands go to LA, but we just decided to put our flag down in San Diego and localise ourselves there. Obviously, we're growing throughout the US but the main focus was to be there.”

Daniel also highlighted LSKD's partnership with health club chain Life Time Fitness, which owns more than 160 athletic country clubs across the US and Canada.

As part of the collaboration, LSKD has agreed to supply thousands of female Life Time Fitness employees with co-branded activewear.

“We’re the official women's wear partner for Life Time Fitness in the US. So, we’ll be supplying over 4,500 female trainers with leggings [and] tops which will be co-branded. We’ve got a lot happening, which is great to build a community,” Daniel said.

The deal comes five months after LSKD geared up for its biggest-ever Black Friday sales period, which saw it hire an extra 176 staff to help with packaging and processing  during the frenzy.

In February 2022, the brand opened its first outlet in Loganholme south of Brisbane, which was followed by another store opening at Chadstone in Melbourne – Australia’s largest shopping centre.

Since then, LSKD has opened additional outlets in Brisbane’s Westfield Chermside and Sydney’s Westfield Miranda.

LSKD, which derives its moniker from ‘loose kid’, creates and sells ‘functional sportswear with a street aesthetic’. The business has grown rapidly since 2018 through its engagement with the fitness community and professional athletes.

“We're very passionate about wanting to be best in the world and developing fabrics and the right fit across all our products within sportswear, and making sure we [still] have that street aesthetic,” Daniel said.

“We're very community focused - we localise, we treat gym owners and trainers as our athletes so I think that plays a big part. We have an amazing team here in the US as well that are building the brand. We're really building something I feel is quite special.”