Hailey Bieber’s new Fila collection takes on athleisure

[ResidentialBusiness]

Fila is looking to Hailey Bieber to help its struggling brand.

The South Korea-based sports apparel company is today launching a 13-piece spring/summer 2025 collection made in collaboration with Bieber, who is the founder of Rhode beauty. The pieces, which include a baby tee, sweatpants, and an oversized pullover, are designed to be “wardrobe staples,” according to the company, and are now available on FILA’s website and select Urban Outfitters stores. It’s clear the Hailey Bieber x FILA Collection is geared toward athleisure rather than performance activewear based on the campaign photography, which in one photo shows Bieber spilling an iced coffee.

[Photo: Fila]

Fila’s North American division said last year it would downsize in the U.S., and in January it laid off 130 employees at its headquarters and warehouse in Towson, Maryland. The rise of activewear accelerated by the pandemic has been great business for athletic apparel brands like Lululemon and Alo Yoga, which catered to spendy customers with clothes for everyday wear. Fila, however, failed to make similar gains. Last year, the brand partnered with Bieber for a retro-inspired collection also designed for everyday wear. This Bieber collaboration is another push to capture share of the growing female athleisure market.

The collaboration follows a marketing strategy that’s becoming more common among athletic brands looking to expand their consumer base: securing celebrity rather than performance athlete brand ambassadors.

Nike took this approach most recently when it partnered with Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand Skims on a new women’s brand called NikeSkims. (Of course, Skims also has the appeal of a $4 billion valuation.) While Fila is better known for its partnerships with athletes and tennis players, including a sponsorship announced earlier this year with New Zealand’s Lulu Sun, just like the NikeSkims deal, teaming up with Bieber gives the brand access to a celebrity who sells a lifestyle, rather than an athlete who sells performance.

[Photo: Fila]

“If I wouldn’t wear it, I wouldn’t put it out into the world,” Bieber says in a promotional video for the collection.

Considering the popularity of tenniscore fashion last summer and fall, the Hailey Bieber x FILA Collection is well timed. The collection also includes a lightweight twill pleated skirt and oversized knit sweater meant as a modern take on a tennis classic.

For Fila, the Bieber collaboration is about more than just selling clothes, it’s about defining the brand’s place in an athleisure market dominated by competitors who already cemented their place in it. By tapping a celebrity and model, the sports apparel brand could better appeal to consumers more interested in aesthetic and versatility than athletic performance.

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