Market Moments: Athletegy Offers Well-fitting Activewear Alternative
As dedicated athletes, Andrew Morrill and Mike Tedesco were frustrated by the fit and lack of functionality they saw in men’s activewear. So they decided to do something about it with a new brand called Athletegy. The name is a blend of “athletic” and “strategy,” and it’s intended to speak to the founders’ belief that having the right strategy was going to be essential to the brand’s success.
Morrill, a former model with a certification from the National Association of Sports Medicine, and Tedesco, who has a degree in finance and operations management, teamed up to create the brand. It launched in November with six core pieces — T-shirts, tanks and shorts — and next month, Athletegy will introduce its second collection, offering alternate colorways and a new, silicone-printed logo.
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Morrill, who worked with a variety of fashion brands in both the U.S. and London, was a swimmer and ran track, while Tedesco played soccer. “We have a love of fitness and know what makes good gymwear and what doesn’t,” he said.
Their main gripe was that most men’s activewear didn’t fit properly and as a result, wasn’t especially comfortable to wear. So they spent a year working on the fit as well as the function. The Quad shorts, the brand’s bestselling item, are five inches long rather than the seven to nine inches that most other brands offer, making them ideal for squats. They offer a reinforced back rise designed to draw attention to pronounced muscles, and a broad waistband to ensure comfort and prevent overflow. They retail for $58.
The T-shirts and tank, which retail for $50 to $58, are made from a cotton blend that makes them feel worn-in, but also minimizes wrinkles, doesn’t fade and holds its shape.
All of the products offer the technical features today’s customer demands: anti-odor, ventilation and stretch panels, and reinforced seams.
“We want guys to feel like the clothes were made for them,” Morrill said. “We’re not trying to compete with a Nike or an Adidas, but there are customers whose needs are not being met.”
In addition to the core products, Athletegy offers a T-shirt that sports the words We Lift Heavy Things. Morrill said the line was first conceived as a tongue-in-cheek gym reference, but it soon came to represent more. He revealed that last year, he was diagnosed with kidney cancer a week before Athletegy launched, and while he has been successfully treated, he realized that “the heavy things we lift in life are not just found in the gym.”
As a result, the proceeds from the sale of the $59, 100 percent Supima cotton shirt is being donated to the Kidney Cancer Association and American Cancer Society.
Athletegy is self-funded by the two founders and sold direct-to-consumer on the brand’s e-commerce site. This summer they hope to open a pop-up but until then, they will continue to market the brand on their social media accounts and work with other fitness professionals and models to get the word out.
Down the line, they hope to expand the product offering into cold weather apparel such as track pants, hoodies, quarter-zips and sweatshirts, they said.
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