LONDON — Vuori has opened its first international flagship on Regent Street in London, and founder Joe Kudla can’t quite believe it’s happening.
It was just 10 years ago that Kudla was in his garage, dreaming up designs for comfortable, high-performance, no-logo clothing that could look good in the gym, the great outdoors, and the city streets of Southern California.
Today, the former CPA and math whiz is sitting atop a company that’s valued at $4 billion and expanding, at pace, around the world.
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He’s still getting used to the idea. “I can’t believe I’m sitting here talking about opening an international flagship in London,” said Kudla from the library of the NoMad Hotel in Covent Garden.
“But it’s time, we’re ready, and the U.K. is a very important market for Vuori. It’s a fashion capital, and a gateway to the world,” he added.
Vuori’s choice of Regent Street was a canny one. The long shopping thoroughfare has become a hub for premium athleisure clothing, with brands including Gymshark, Alo Yoga, Lululemon and On Running all located on the street.
Sweaty Betty and Niketown are also in the neighborhood.
Kudla and his team aren’t new to London, and have been laying the groundwork for the new-concept flagship.
There is already a Vuori in Covent Garden, which opened in 2022, and the athleisure brand has formed strong partnerships with fitness studios such as Barry’s Bootcamp. It has also been making inroads with the local community, which Vuori tries to do wherever it opens.
Next spring a third London store will open on the King’s Road, in the former L.K. Bennett space. It will cater to a local audience that’s completely different from the one in Covent Garden or Regent Street.
Kudla sees the flagship, at 83-85 Regent Street in the former Fabletics space, as his window on an ever-growing world and said he wanted to bring “coastal SoCal to London, with an elevated aesthetic.”
The store spans 4,000 square feet over two levels. The spaces are airy and open with natural stone, a neutral color palette and plants. “I wanted it to feel like a sanctuary,” said Kudla.
Materials include quartz, concrete, washed oak and natural marble in earthy, neutral tones. The plants are housed in a glass atrium with a skylight adding to the SoCal allure.
The flagship carries the full range of men’s and women’s apparel across the leisure, active and lifestyle categories. Vuori was founded as a menswear brand, which is why that collection is located in prime position on the ground floor. Womenswear is on the first floor.
As always, the Vuori team plans to create bonds with the local community, and host fitness, meditation and breathwork classes in addition to run clubs, speaker events and “investment in happiness” days.
Kudla said activity and community are intrinsic to the brand’s success.
“The experience we offer in our Vuori stores is not only authentic to who we are, but it’s a key differentiator from our competitors, and we look forward to deepening our relationship with the local community here,” he said.
Kudla will continue to expand, and not just in Europe. Earlier this year Vuori opened in Shanghai and a third store is on the way. Although Vuori is mostly a direct-to-consumer brand, it also has a small wholesale business with stores including Harrods, Selfridges and Nordstrom.
The plan is to have 50 stores outside North America over the next five years, and 100 stores in the U.S. by 2026.
Kudla is doing it all without actively fundraising. He is a rare entrepreneur who hasn’t been dazzled by outside investment, come under pressure to expand too quickly — or to sell out.
He built the business on $2.5 million raised from family and friends and by maxing out his credit cards. He said the company never actively raised further funds, and that Vuori has always run on free cash flow.
The people and institutions who’ve poured multimillions into the company over the years, including Norwest Venture Partners; former Neiman Marcus executive Jim Gold, and SoftBank Vision, were secondary investors, buying shares off existing backers.
Kudla said he’s proud of the fiscal discipline he’s brought to the business and of building it on his own terms. He said that in the early days he was more concerned about partnering with factories, and developing better products, than raising money to pump up the brand.
Today, he said, “we’re not in a position where we need additional funding” for the retail rollouts. He’s excited about the future.
“We have very big aspirations, especially now. With the trends towards casualization, health and wellness, we’ll be able to reach our full potential by making great product and offering great service and customer experience,” he said.
