body-positivity
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305 Fitness built a business on forgetting you’re exercising
Sadie Kurzban put a live DJ inside a cardio class. The harder trick was turning that feeling into a business that could travel beyond the dance floor.
American Eagle Outfitters Inc.
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO) is a Pittsburgh-headquartered specialty apparel retailer that has spent nearly five decades selling jeans to teenagers and young adults - and, more recently, learning how to sell a great deal more than jeans. Founded in 1977 by brothers Jerry and Mark Silverman, the company now runs a five-brand portfolio: the namesake American Eagle denim and casualwear label; Aerie, the intimates and swim brand built on unretouched imagery; OFFLINE by Aerie in activewear; Todd Snyder in premium menswear; and Unsubscribed, a slow-fashion experiment. Fiscal 2025 revenue reached roughly $5.5 billion across about 1,168 company-operated stores, 357 internationally licensed locations, and a digital business spanning ae.com, aerie.com and toddsnyder.com. The company describes its flagship as the leading jeans brand for US shoppers aged 15 to 25. Its recent story is one of divergence: Aerie crossed $2 billion in trailing-twelve-month revenue and posted 25% comparable-sales growth in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, while the American Eagle brand has been flatter - even after the widely debated Sydney Sweeney denim campaign of July 2025 delivered what management called unprecedented new-customer acquisition.
Adore Me
Adore Me is a New York-based intimates brand that set out in 2011 to sell well-made bras and lingerie at prices a student could afford, and ended up rewriting how the category is merchandised. Founded by Harvard MBA Morgan Hermand-Waiche, the company paired a wide size range (30-46 bands, A-I cups) with a monthly membership, an at-home try-on box, and an unusually large in-house engineering group in New York and Bucharest that built roughly 15 internal tools for planning, sourcing, and personalization. It reached an estimated $250 million in sales and more than 1.2 million active customers before Victoria's Secret & Co. acquired it in a deal announced November 2022 at $400 million cash upfront plus earnouts, closing January 2023. Adore Me became the only US lingerie brand certified as a B Corporation in 2022. Under its parent it has since narrowed: the founder departed in August 2025, the VIP subscription that defined the model ended in February 2026, and Victoria's Secret recorded a $120 million impairment on the business that same quarter.
Cupshe
Cupshe is a California-inspired, direct-to-consumer beachwear brand for women that sells trendy, affordable swimwear, bikinis, cover-ups, activewear and loungewear. Founded in 2015 by former Alibaba CEO David Wei, the internet-first label pairs a Shopify-powered DTC website and app with a strong Amazon presence, reaching millions of customers across more than 100 countries. Known for vibrant prints, size-inclusive fits and $15-$30 price points, Cupshe grew into a roughly $150M-plus swimwear business and has expanded into recycled, GRS-certified sustainable collections.
Knix
Knix is a Toronto-based direct-to-consumer intimate apparel company that pioneered the leakproof underwear category. Founded in 2013 by Joanna Griffiths, it designs machine-washable, reusable period and leakproof underwear, bras, activewear, swimwear and shapewear built for the realities of menstruation, bladder leaks, postpartum and body changes. Known for size-inclusive design and a mission to empower women to be 'unapologetically free,' Knix grew into the #1 leakproof brand in North America and was acquired by Swedish hygiene giant Essity in 2022 in what was reported as the largest exit by a Canadian female founder.
Torrid
Torrid is a California-based direct-to-consumer retailer of plus-size women's apparel and intimates, designing trend-driven clothing in sizes 10 to 30. Launched in 2001 as a Hot Topic concept and public on the NYSE since 2021 under ticker CURV, the brand pairs a digitally led e-commerce business with a fleet of specialty stores, and builds fit authority by developing garments on live plus-size fit models rather than grading up smaller patterns.
Savage X Fenty
Savage X Fenty is Rihanna's inclusive lingerie, loungewear and apparel brand, launched in 2018 as a joint venture with TechStyle Fashion Group. Built around radical size inclusivity (30+ bra sizes, XS-4X), it sells direct-to-consumer through an Xtra VIP membership model and an expanding wholesale footprint in Nordstrom, Galeries Lafayette and Selfridges. Backed by L Catterton, Neuberger Berman and Advent International, the company reached a reported $1 billion valuation and turned an annual Amazon Prime Video runway show into an Emmy-winning cultural event. It positions itself as the inclusive, unapologetic alternative to the old Victoria's Secret playbook.