SoulCycle to offer full men’s apparel collection starting Oct. 12
SoulCycle is turning its attention to the guys. The indoor cycling studio with a rabid following will introduce its first full men’s apparel collection next month. The brand has had a complete women’s collection for five years that it sells at its 65 SoulCycle studios around the country.
While there are men’s pieces currently offered, this is the first cohesive collection designed by the in-house retail team.
“At SoulCycle, our decisions depend on meeting our riders’ needs,” said Bob Colquhoun, vice president of retail. Colquhoun joined the company about a year ago and his background includes May Co., Abercrombie & Fitch, Urban Outfitters and Adam by Adam Lippes. “We have a lot of male riders and get passionate e-mails asking why there’s so much more style offered in women’s.”
He said that when SoulCycle launched a decade ago, it sold one item. “Now in women’s, we deliver a monthly collection with 60 sku’s,” he said. “It’s a surprising little secret.”
Starting Oct. 12, SoulCycle will offer a performance riding short, a performance T-shirt, muscle tank and regular tank as well as a quarter-zip, terry hoodie and terry jogger for men.
They will range in price from $58 to $148 and be available in the studios as well as on the company’s web site, which is currently preparing to relaunch.
The assortment will be updated with more fashion colors and styles on a monthly basis through the end of the year, Colquhoun said. He said a red short will be offered in December.
Currently, there is about 12 linear feet devoted to retail at each studio but in new build-outs, Colquhoun said it will be expanded to 18 linear feet with a separate fixture devoted just to men.
And when existing studios are renovated, those with strong retail business will also carve out more space for the company’s apparel collection. “We’re also relaunching our e-commerce and will offer in-studio iPads so if there’s something you like and we don’t have your size, we can get it to you for your next ride,” he said.
He said the male ridership at SoulCycle is diverse and can range from a 13-year-old boy and a 25-year-old athlete to a dad trying to get back in shape, so the collection is designed to appeal to men of all types.
“With the scale it’s getting to, we knew it was time to pay more attention to our retail business,” he concluded.
SoulCycle is 97 percent owned by Equinox. In July of 2015, the brand filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a $100 million initial public offering, which is still pending. The chain had sales of $112 million in 2014 when it had 38 studios, according to the filing.
