I love an athleisure brand and quite a few have started in Southern California, inspired by the casual healthy lifestyle, by dreamers and doers in search of sand, sea, surf, fitness, sport and art. I can relate. I jumped on the ALO bandwagon and have been enjoying the ride for a couple of years, I jumped off the Lululemon yoga mat, (they also have an outlet store at the San Francisco Premium Outlet I visited) when it came to light white folk were being promoted and valued more than the rest. 14 ex Lululemon workers spoke out in Sheena Butler Youngs article in Business of Fashion, 20 November, 2023 "Black is Off Brand at Lululemon" I didn't like it and I stopped buying, although when I poked my nose in store in Livermore designer outlet, lots of women clearly hadn't read the memo, it was very busy. I glanced at the packed rails of coloured leggings but didn't see anything to make me change my mind, even though I was shopping for leggings. I stayed in the Lululemon store all of 5 minutes. 
I didn't know I was looking for Vuori until I found it. I was on my way to Lacoste, the Theory outlet store on my radar and there in between was a window display full of leggings. I was in, in a flash.

The store is light, bright, modern and inviting, like the California ocean on a hot day. The store layout is girls on the right, boys on the left, and notably every piece of clothing I touched made we want to put it on literally. Soft stretchy leggings, matching bra tops, looked well cut with deep flattering waist bands and lots of 7/8 lengths for shorter Asian girls like me. A result after Lululemon making leggings for Amazonians. 
I asked a friendly helpful assistant about black leggings, there was a lot of colour, she explained the outlet didn't get much in black and what she had was regular price because black always sells out in store and online she told me. She did manage to find me a catsuit and a pair of leggings in black, my size, so I was off to a great start.

I started trying on hoodies, (I couldn't afford and then opps couldn't resist) short cropped styles, some with zips, very cute on in earthy colours, easy the wear and style, longer length cosy options in cotton, polyester blends that felt so luxurious. I bought into the "investment in happiness' strap and was happy to spend $80 on one of these beauts.

Everything is plain, check, and the branding is minimal and subtle, double check, the labelling is recycled and everywhere you look you see sustainability and ethical practise, from fabric sourcing to labour and manufacturing follows a strict code at the brand's core.

I remembered a story on my radar about British no.1, tennis star Jack Draper leaving Nike where he said he was one of many, launching a tennis line with a much smaller more ethical sustainable brand where he felt he could make a difference and that aligned more with his values, an offer he couldn't refuse he said, and launched the new brand partnership a couple of months ago at the US open.  When I connected the dots I realised this was Vuori too, and I thought how refreshing it was to see someone so high profile moving away from a brand like Nike to join a relative unknown brand by comparison. Funnily enough my allegiance to Lacoste came from a love of tennis too. However after shopping big in Vuori, I blew my whole budget I didn't make it to the Lacoste store this trip. 
I do love to play paddle tennis down in Hermosa Beach, CA so I have checked out the ladies tennis offering from Vuori online. I've already seen a few things I like.

The clothes I purchased I absolutely love, they fit and feel great on. I haven't tried washing anything yet, it will be interesting to see how things hold up after the laundry. The price point is about the same as ALO yoga, $100-$130 bucks for leggings, sweats and loungewear $100-$150, a tennis dress will cost you again about $90-$100.

In the outlet there were definite savings, my catsuit was only $50 and I saved about $50 on my hoodie even though I had to pay retail for the black super lightweight skimming leggings and a bra top, $150 for the set. I do love it and still a little more affordable than ALO even at full retail.

Yoga gals and tennis junkies check out these sporty apparel pieces. I purchased a week ago and haven't worn anything else since. As soon as they go in the laundry I have a feeling I'll be back shopping online. I have just signed up for 20% off. For the first time this week I have seen ALO yoga using the Kardashians to market their biggest ever celebrity inspired sale, the prices are better for sure, the airlift leggings I love are now $80 instead of $134 but for me those ladies that get to market everything kinda put me off. I just think they cannot like everything and when the motive is just money I don't really believe or want to keep buying in, even for a product I like and have had a few times before.

Vuori you've got me right now. Let's hope you stay true for the long haul.