Gold medalist Simone Biles
Alex Livesey | Getty Images
Gymnast Simone Biles is leaving Nike to partner with Gap’s Athleta brand name.
With Athleta, Biles is going to have her own efficiency wear line, which will consist of items for using to and from the health club, the business stated Friday.
Athleta will likewise offer Biles a platform to be an activist for ladies and other female professional athletes.
The worth of the agreement wasn’t divulged.
“Using my voice has been very empowering for me and I am grateful to embark on this new journey with Athleta to inspire young girls and women to do the same,” Biles stated in a declaration. “I admire Athleta for their commitment to recognize and support women’s individual and collective strength.”
In July 2019, Gap’s Athleta banner landed its very first sponsored professional athlete: Olympic track champ Allyson Felix. Since then, Felix has actually dealt with her own line of running clothing and has actually appeared in Athleta’s marketing.
Like Biles, Felix had actually formerly partnered with Nike. She signed up with at a time when the tennis shoe giant was being slammed for not supporting pregnant professional athletes.
When it revealed its collaboration with Felix, Gap stated its objective was to “flip this sponsorship model on its head” by providing professional athletes more assistance in their individual lives and by handing them imaginative obligations.
Biles’ agreement with Nike had actually begun in 2015, when she turned expert. Felix and Biles are anticipated to be 2 of the more popular professional athletes at the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summertime.
Born in Columbus, Ohio, Biles holds the most World Championship gold medals ever won by a female gymnast. The 24-year-old has actually likewise been singing about the abuse that gymnasts like herself have actually suffered in the sport.
Earlier in the week, Gap revealed that it will quickly be broadening its Athleta brand name, which measures up to Nike, Lululemon and Under Armour for ladies, into Canada.
Athleta is targeting $2 billion in yearly sales by 2023. The brand name went beyond the $1 billion mark in 2015, with its sales up 16% from 2019 levels. Gap’s overall sales for 2020 totaled up to $13.8 billion.
Gap shares were up fractionally in Friday’s premarket. The merchant’s stock is up more than 60% this year, providing it a market price of $12.46 billion.
The Wall Street Journal initially reported the news about Biles and Athleta.
It follows Nike’s collaboration with the estate of basketball gamer Kobe Bryant ending days previously, too.
Nike did not instantly react to CNBC’s ask for remark.
