Joe Kudla, Founder & CEO of San Diego-based activewear brand, Vuori (meaning "mountain" directly translated in Finnish -- and by the brand as an aspirational metaphor for climbing and achieving one's dreams) is at the helm of a $4 billion dollar startup. Founded in 2015, Vuori was created from the notion that men did not have the same, versatile activewear options as their female counterparts – a gap in the quickly growing market that Joe decided to fill. He set out to conceptualize and craft garments made for both movement & everyday life that men would actually want to wear – a vision that gave birth to the Vuori brand.
Throughout the years, Joe has led Vuori to see incredible growth as a brand – becoming profitable in just two years into business (2017, and catalyzed through the brand’s $400 million capital raise in the Fall 2021. Joe and his team have always stuck to the core ethos of the start-up mission they set out to solve in the beginning – creating unparalleled active and everyday wear staples, hinging on technical fabrications, cutting edge silhouettes, and unique innovation concepts, to make a mark on the category unlike any other brand today.
It is this continued vision to create comfortable, style-forward wardrobe staples for men on the move – such as Vuori’s hero Men’s Ponto Performance Jogger, that has quickly propelled additional consumer interest from women. Such interest in the brand from the female consumer quickly led to the conception of a women’s cohort of Vuori in 2018, introducing similar styles for women – marrying performance, fit, functionality, and style for her.
Today, Joe and his team support a thriving business that is split equally across genders – delivering on core best sellers and expanding the innovation pipeline year over year. However, growth is not only seen on a DTC basis. Since its start in 2015, Vuori has successfully expanded on an omni channel basis under Joe’s helm – opening stores in nearly 30 cities nationwide and at retailers around the globe, as well as captivating consumers across digital/in-person community building initiatives – such as Vuori’s free online workout streaming service and in-person series – ACTV Club.
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