WEBVTT - Pandemic Driving Demand for Activewear 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:03.600 You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:08.559 Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. The Next Guest, 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:10.479 Our next guest maker of the types of clothes we've 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:12.200 all been living in over the past year, and to 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:14.960 be told active where a flee's You're ware it has 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:17.239 really become a staple in many of our closets, not 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:18.919 just in the past year, but really over the past 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:21.720 few years. Joe Coula knows all about that. He's founder 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:24.119 and CEO at Viori, and he joins us on the 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:28.080 phone from California. Joe, how are you. I'm doing great, Carol, 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:29.960 thank you so much for having me. Well, it's nice 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.160 to have you here. Tell us about the past year 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:33.839 for you and what it's like. Take us back to 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:36.720 March of and what was kind of going on in 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:40.000 your world. Well, it's been a roller coaster. I will 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:43.320 never forget. March thirteenth, We've gathered our leadership team together 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:45.600 and we decided we needed to close our stores. We 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:49.000 had five retail stores at the time. Um we were 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:51.280 getting calls from a lot of our wholesale partners saying 0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:54.200 hold shipments, don't send us any any more inventory. And 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:56.080 by the way, we don't think we can pay our bills. 0:00:57.400 --> 0:00:59.080 And so it was a rough time. You know. We 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:01.960 made some tough decisions. You know, at the time, we 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:04.479 decided to keep all of our we had over fifty 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:07.280 retail employees. We decided to keep them fully employed with 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:10.959 the company and reinvest in training. UM. But I was 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:14.520 so proud with how our team came together in that 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:17.280 time and we got really creative and we thought about 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:20.880 how can we make this business better during this momentary pause. 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:23.000 And what we found out was that there was a 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:27.000 big gravitation towards comfortable clothing and we we were very 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:31.039 fortunate to benefit from that. UM. So it was it 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:33.480 was a bit of a roller coaster at the beginning, 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:36.000 a lot of worry, a lot of doubt about what 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.040 was going to happen. And then we we learned quickly 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:41.760 that our customer was coming to us. They trusted us 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.920 for delivering really comfortable clothes during a pretty tough and 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:48.360 traumatic time. I'm guilty for those comfortable clothes. Working from 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:50.600 home for I don't know eight months. For me, are 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:54.000 so a lot of yoga ware and the like. UM. 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.120 Tell me about some of the metrics. I had read 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:58.600 somewhere that you guys nearly tripled your revenue last year. 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:01.560 Is that right? Or give some idea of the metrics 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:04.960 you saw. Yeah, we did. We We came in in 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:08.000 the year to UM with a plan to double the business, 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:11.840 and before we were really close to writing it to zero, 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:14.040 as were a lot of folks, you know, in that 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:17.239 early March timeframe, but we learned that there was again 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:20.200 that big gravitation towards our our category, and we ended 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:23.400 up tripling our business, with a large majority of that 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:26.400 being direct to consumer. And so hats off to our team, 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:28.600 Hats off to our supply chain for being able to 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:31.200 react so quickly to meet the demand. What was your 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:33.160 supply chain like, because that's something that we've had a 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:35.880 lot of conversations about over the past year, where we 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.160 know when it came to certainly some of those essentials, UM, 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:41.440 it was difficult. But what was your supply chain like 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:45.880 during the pandemic. Well, we're fortunate to have great partners, 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:49.920 so I'll first say that, but it was challenged, you know. UM. 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.200 You know, one day we called our factory partners and 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:54.760 we said, look, guys, we need to hold UM all 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:57.400 new production until we get a better picture of what 0:02:57.480 --> 0:02:59.200 was going to happen. And literally two weeks later we 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:02.720 called them and after them, the triple the volume of production. 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:05.440 And so you know, we were working with everybody from 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:08.520 our textile mills all the way through to our cut 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:11.120 and sow factories to manage capacity and kind of an 0:03:11.160 --> 0:03:14.120 ever changing environment. You know, one minute we thought we 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:16.320 were on one trajectory, and then the next minute we 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:18.960 would get more data, putting more demand and pressure on 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:21.720 supply chain. But we were able to rise to the occasion. 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:23.880 And I think part of that was because we had 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:28.960 adopted nimble UM supply chain models that UM we're where 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:31.680 we where we partner with some of our vendors to 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:34.640 manage inventory and to meet that that kind of fluctuation 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:37.040 in demand. Hey listen, good about forty five seconds and 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:38.040 I've got to do a little bit of news and 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:39.880 we'll come back. But how I just want to just 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:41.760 quickly get your thoughts and we continue with this. But 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:44.880 this idea that you guys, you know, you you launched 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:48.760 as a men's brand, then you focused on women. You know, 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:53.600 you launch our first women's collection. How productive fruitful was 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:57.480 that pivot? Ultimately for you guys during the pandemic, it 0:03:57.480 --> 0:03:59.520 just turned out to be. It turned out to be 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:03.400 fantas like women today represents almost half of our business. Wow, 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:07.440 that's a quick ramp up, very quick ramp up. You know, 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:11.080 we're famous for soft fabrics, and women kept wearing our 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:14.280 men's clothing and asking us to do something meaningful for them, 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:16.559 and it was only natural that we enter the women's market. 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:19.000 So Joe, a friend of mine, when I saw that 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:21.960 we were having you onto, like, really cool guest. I 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:24.400 hear their joggers are the best. Tell me what's going 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:27.720 on with jogger sales because this has been a big 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:32.320 momentum play for you guys. Jogger has been an incredible 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:36.080 product across all channels and distribution. But yeah, we've become 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:38.599 famous for the jogger, and I think it's a combination 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:44.000 of great fit and comfort. Comfort being king this past year, Um, 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:47.560 we have a famous fabric called the dream Knit, our 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:51.000 dream knit textile. It's a technical fabric. It's brushed very 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:54.040 uniquely to give it this incredibly soft hand and once 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:55.760 you put them on, you have a hard time taking 0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:58.880 them off. So where do you go with all of this? 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:02.560 And I think about I've been doing yoga for twenty 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:06.160 years and yoga clothes have gone from you know, ty 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:08.400 tyed yoga pants too. They actually look pretty nice with 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:11.920 the jacket, And it's pretty amazing how like this stuff 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:15.760 has evolved and has infiltrated kind of our regular wardrobe. 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:18.920 How do you continue to see the evolution of your 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:23.080 brand and the type of offerings that you put out there. Yeah, 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:26.039 that's a great question, you know. I really feel that 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:28.159 part of the reason Vieory has been successful as we've 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:31.960 intentionally tried to blur the lines between fitness clothing and 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:35.039 everyday life clothing. And I really feel that the term 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:38.359 at leisure is just going to evolve into clothing. I 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:42.159 think some of the best sportswear everyday clothing, whether you're 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:44.320 wearing it around the house, or you're traveling, or you're 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:45.760 going to the office. I think a lot of that 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:49.919 product is being made and conceived today by activewear brand. 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:52.320 And I think that a lot of our offering, you know, 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:55.160 is extending beyond product you're just going to take to 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:57.839 the gym, but it's product that you know you're traveling, 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:00.560 you'll wear to the office. It's it's closed, you'll you'll 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:03.479 go hike and be active outdoors in and it's just 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:06.800 transitioning into you know, clothing. It's the it's the new 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:10.440 definition of clothing because it's more comfortable, it moves with 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:13.960 your body and it just functions better. How are you 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:17.040 and you guys write about sustainability on your website. That's 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:19.279 a big deal and we have been increasingly, certainly on 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:21.839 our program here, looking at the fashion industry and the 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:24.680 use of water and you know what it does to 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:27.600 our environment. You guys are focusing on recycled and also 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:32.040 organic materials. You're committed to sustainability in terms of your 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:35.279 materials by two. It's a big part of your ethos. 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:37.800 Does it cost more? Tell me about getting there, because 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:40.320 we are increasingly seeing more and more companies doing it. 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:43.600 Is it hard to do it? Is it costlier? Tell 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:48.760 me about that. Yeah, it costs money, so it requires investment. Um, 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:50.880 but we believe that's it's a great r o I. 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:53.000 But but that's not the reason for doing it. We 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:55.760 did it because the natural world was what inspired the 0:06:55.800 --> 0:06:58.040 brand and we want to make sure we're doing everything 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:00.440 we can to protect it. And so if you you 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:04.680 mentioned recycled and organic materials by two were on path 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:08.200 to meet that UM that goal, but we also invested 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:11.360 in a lot of different green initiatives to offset of 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:15.840 our carbon footprint for the past two years. UM and yeah, 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:19.840 those those that requires dollars to do that. We're also 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:24.480 investing in going plastic neutral, so UM we calculate all 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:27.280 the plastic that we put into the environment and we 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:30.760 take equal if not more plastic out of the ocean. 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:34.360 So all of these require effort and require energy. It 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:37.200 required dollars, but we believe it's the right thing to do. 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:39.920 And you know, building a brand in alignment with a 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:42.080 value system is really important to us, and I think 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:44.160 it's really important to our customers as well. And where 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:49.040 do you mostly manufacture there? We work with a supply 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:54.240 chain that's that's global at this point, Asia, Cambodia, Vietnam, 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:59.400 Sri Lanka, So we're we're diversified globally well. And it's 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:02.400 interesting and I do wonder too about UM that's certainly 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:04.520 part of the E s G kind of framework that 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:07.440 we are increasingly looking at when it comes to companies 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:12.480 and certainly investments. UM, are you gearing towards places where 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:17.760 workers are treated more equitably and and get a fair wage. 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:22.000 We have a whole sourcing team UM that spends a 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:25.240 lot of time on our code of conduct UM and 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:27.680 and being very clear with the value system that we 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:31.720 expect our factories to operate within. And it's exciting because 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:34.760 the more brands that are taking this next step in 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:38.040 terms of E s G, the more the supply chain 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:40.640 is being responsive, because the best factories in the world 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:42.920 want to work with the best brand. If the best 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.480 brands are caring about this stuff, then they are as well. 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:48.600 And so the more more energy, the more we vote 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:51.760 with our dollars, the more the factories pay attention UM 0:08:51.760 --> 0:08:54.400 and so we're not only demanding it, but we're also 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:56.679 seeing some of the best factories coming to us with 0:08:56.880 --> 0:09:01.080 really cool new programs UM and that's really aspiring to see. Yeah, 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:03.960 definitely interesting to hear and it is inspiring. Hey, one 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:06.400 thing I want to ask you, after a year of 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:08.520 many of us being kind of casual, I'm still wearing. 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:10.480 Also some genes at work I do change for what 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:12.480 I have to be on air. But U, there is 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:14.800 a thing we talked about revenge buying where everybody can't 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:17.080 wait to spend money, but there is also something like 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.160 sweatpant fatigue that you guys are noticing. How is that 0:09:20.200 --> 0:09:22.079 shifting maybe some of the things that you want to 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:24.440 put up in terms of product offerings in the next 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:28.120 few months, especially the world reopens. Yeah, it's a great point. 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:32.440 I mean we are already seeing our product UM focus evolved. 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:35.480 UM sweatpants are still growing for us as a category, 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:39.079 but it's contribution to the overall businesses shrinking. So we're 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.200 seeing people move into athletic shorts, you know, our technical 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:45.079 sports where for traveling products that you can wear on 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:47.839 the golf course or to the office. They're trending really 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.439 strong right now, and we don't see that slowing down. 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:54.160 But I don't think in general the movement towards healthy 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:57.600 active living is going anywhere. And I believe that the 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:00.400 clothing that we make UM is very much a lined 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:03.960 and supports that lifestyle. And so while the products that 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:06.120 we buy might evolve a little bit out of say 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:09.360 kind of sweat pants for lying on the couch, UM 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:12.319 into other forms of active where I think in general, 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:17.040 people are still looking for comfort, versatility, UM and performance. Yeah, 0:10:17.080 --> 0:10:19.040 I think you're right. I think people are whittling down 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:21.200 to and and really want kind of a wardrobe that 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:23.200 just makes sense with kind of who they are and 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:25.240 and their work. All right, So what's next? Just got 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:27.880 about forty five seconds. Are you guys going to stay private? 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:29.560 Do you want to go public? There's a lot of 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:32.840 money out there their SPACs. Is that part of the 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:35.200 timetable at all in the next year or so? Just quickly? 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:39.680 You know, we're paying attention, we're getting we're getting educated 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:42.360 on the public market. But you know, we have not 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:46.280 made any kind of UM statement, intor or initiative to 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:49.000 move in that direction at this point. We're so focused 0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:50.920 on growing the business. The business is going to double 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:54.079 again this year. We're getting to a pretty sizable scale. 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:57.200 We have four hundred and fifty employees UM and so 0:10:57.280 --> 0:10:59.319 we have our work cut out with for us building 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:02.000 kind of a seck end engine that can support the front. 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:04.800 And we're very excited about what we're doing with our 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:08.480 product pipeline. We're going to be expanding nationally with our 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:12.640 ory retail stores UM and continue to invest in sustainability. 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:14.360 So we have our work cut out for us. Yeah, 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:16.560 it sounds like, hey, listen, do come back, because I'd 0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:19.959 love to hear how things progress throughout one great to 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:22.480 check in with Joekla. He is the founder and CEO 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:25.319 at Vory, joining us on the phone from California.