Vuori

Born from California’s coastal active-lifestyle culture, Vuori was founded in 2015 in Encinitas, California by Joe Kudla as a men’s athletic apparel brand designed for a multi-occasion wardrobe spanning surf, yoga, running, training, and casual lifestyle wear. The company secured a $400 million minority investment from SoftBank Vision Fund 2 in October 2021, with the funding round valuing Vuori at approximately $4.0 billion. Carlyle Group joined the investor syndicate in a 2024 transaction valuing the company at approximately $5.5 billion.

Kudla continues as Chairman and CEO, with the founder retaining a significant equity stake alongside the institutional investor syndicate. The product positioning centers on the “performance apparel built for an active life” thesis, with the Sunday Performance Jogger, Strato Tech Tee, and Kore Short becoming category-defining product anchors. The brand’s emphasis on men’s athletic apparel (a less competitive segment than women’s athletic at scale players Lululemon and Athleta) provided initial differentiation before progressive expansion into women’s, kids’, and accessory categories. Annual revenue reached approximately $1.0 billion in 2024, with continued double-digit growth into 2025. The first Vuori stores in Asia opened in Q2 2025 in Seoul and Beijing, marking the brand’s most significant international expansion milestone and signaling broader Asian market rollout. The brand suspended Russian distribution as part of its consistent withdrawal from regions inconsistent with its operating policies.

Vuori operates approximately 100 directly operated stores across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, and South Korea, with the strongest density in California, the broader Sun Belt, and major US urban markets. The typical Vuori store occupies 2,000 to 4,000 square feet, with formats emphasizing the brand’s coastal-California design language, integrated fitness-and-lifestyle merchandising, and product-trial fitting rooms. Distribution combines DTC e-commerce as a meaningful channel with growing standalone retail and selective wholesale relationships including REI and Nordstrom. For mall operators, Vuori is a Class A specialty athletic-lifestyle tenant for lifestyle centers and premium regional malls in major urban markets, typically positioned alongside Lululemon, Alo Yoga, Athleta, and other contemporary athletic-apparel specialty brands. The brand’s continued retail rollout cadence at 30 to 40 new openings annually makes it one of the most aggressive growth tenants in the contemporary athletic segment.