Legends CEO Scott Hochstadt reveals how his athleticwear brand leveraged authentic relationships with professional athletes to rapidly scale. E-commerce operators will learn how to identify market white space, strategically build a brand before aggressive growth, and diversify sales channels beyond pure DTC through high-value partnerships.
Key takeaways
Legends identified a white space in premium athleticwear for professional athletes, differentiating from lifestyle brands like Lululemon and Vuori.
The company prioritized building its brand, products, and internal team for several years before actively pursuing aggressive growth, highlighting the importance of foundational work.
Legends has effectively diversified its sales channels beyond DTC by securing partnerships with NBA and NFL teams for travel and lifestyle gear, as well as selling in luxury hotels and arena retail shops.
Strategic celebrity and athlete partnerships, coupled with exclusive activations and limited-edition drops, were crucial in establishing Legends as an elite-tier brand without significant organic marketing spend.
Legends aims to transition from a niche brand known by major athletes to a mainstream name, demonstrating a scalable growth strategy for athleticwear and similar brands.
Athleticwear brand Legends wants to be the Lululemon of professional sports.
The company -- which sells products like basketball shorts, swim trunks and athletic tees -- launched in 2019 with a slew of professional athlete investors. Since then, the company has brought on more influencers to its program and -- thanks to these partners -- has seen sales consistently grow, even though it hasn't focused much on organic marketing. In 2020, the company made about $10 million, and that grew the following year to about $16 million.
This year, said co-founder and CEO Scott Hochstadt, the focus is on really growing the business. "We're at a point where we've we've built the brand," he said. He's hired a crack team of retail and marketing operators who are "ready to accelerate things and scale it out." He joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and talked about the growth strategy behind Legends.
Hochstadt knows a thing or two about sports and celebrities. After playing lacrosse in college, he brought the sport to the West Coast and ended up launching a lacrosse lifestyle brand that he ultimately sold. Then, with a business partner who was working with big sports stars Kobe Bryant at the time, Legends was born.
"We have the biggest athletes in the world training with us in this spot," said Hochstadt, "and I have the factories and I have the design capabilities to build products for these guys." And so, Legends launched with the help of quarterback Baker Mayfield and NBA stars Steve Nash and Matt Barnes, among others.
The white space that Hochstadt saw was a premium sportswear company that speaks to a certain type of athlete. "Vuori is more lifestyle yoga," he said. "Lulu is your wife's brand that makes men's products now."
For the first couple of years, Legends held individual activations to get the word out. For example, it would sponsor shows with celebrities and hold drops of limited-edition apparel. This helped establish the brand as something more on the elite tier.
B
Frequently asked about this episode
What does this episode say about brand building?
Legends identified a white space in premium athleticwear for professional athletes, differentiating from lifestyle brands like Lululemon and Vuori.
What does this episode say about growth strategy?
The company prioritized building its brand, products, and internal team for several years before actively pursuing aggressive growth, highlighting the importance of foundational work.
What does this episode say about market positioning?
Legends has effectively diversified its sales channels beyond DTC by securing partnerships with NBA and NFL teams for travel and lifestyle gear, as well as selling in luxury hotels and arena retail shops.
What does this episode say about partnerships & influencers?
Strategic celebrity and athlete partnerships, coupled with exclusive activations and limited-edition drops, were crucial in establishing Legends as an elite-tier brand without significant organic marketing spend.
What does this episode say about brand building?
Legends aims to transition from a niche brand known by major athletes to a mainstream name, demonstrating a scalable growth strategy for athleticwear and similar brands.
