Photographed by Dudi Hasson. Courtesy of Sporty & Rich
Emily Oberg, founder of Sporty & Rich, talks about building a global brand, staying true to her vision, and the influence of her Filipino roots.
We currently exist in an era of overconsumption, where everything feels like a copy of a copy of a copy. Micro-trends come, and before you know it, they go. Brands feed off the ideas of other brands. But while inspiration has to come from somewhere, what matters these days is having a strong point of view. According to some articles published in the last year, the term influencer is being replaced with a new title: curator. We’re overwhelmed. We want a distinct voice to point us in the right direction, or at least, towards building a great wardrobe with elevated basics.
Emily Oberg, founder of lifestyle and activewear label Sporty & Rich, has always been this type of person with a strong point of view. Her brand, which has existed for ten years now, is rooted in nostalgia yet feels refreshingly modern, often giving a nod to street style. What began as an Instagram mood board is now a multi-million dollar company that offers everything you need to live a healthy, active lifestyle, from sleek workout sets and supplement recommendations on their website to collaborations with cultural icons like the New York Yankees, which just launched this August. It’s no wonder that in recent years, many brands have tried to imitate their aesthetic.
The practice of curation began early for Oberg, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for her to do. As a child, she would cover her bedroom walls with magazine editorials and her favorite ad campaigns. At the same time, she was also exposed to a strong sense of style. “I was around good taste when I was growing up. My dad was always into streetwear, and still dresses the same way to this day. He’s very true to his style,” she recalls with a laugh. “At the same time, my aunts were more into luxury items and fashion designers, so being exposed to that was very informative too.”
Oberg’s father, who is Filipino, moved to Calgary, Alberta, when he was five. “I grew up the way many Filipinos did, with a lot of uncles and aunts, which was really nice,” she shares. Looking back, she is incredibly appreciative of her upbringing, which was shaped by being surrounded by role models who would later influence her work ethic.
“My grandmother’s a businesswoman. She opened a Filipino bakery when she first moved to Canada,” she proudly shares, adding that her dear lola, who is now in her 70s, still works to this day and has become known in her community for her baked goods. “I was definitely inspired by how hard she worked. I feel like many immigrants are hardworking because they had to figure it out. I can’t imagine doing all that in a country where you don’t know anyone or where you don’t speak the first language,” she reflects.
Sporty & Rich started as an Instagram account, a mood board for the world that Oberg would eventually turn tangible. She started the account while working at Complex, continuing as she later joined KITH as the women’s creative lead. “I learned a lot of things along the way, but I didn’t want to just build someone else’s vision,” she shares.
“Once you find out what you love to do, it’s such a gift. You’ll feel in your bones that you’ll do whatever you can to make that happen.”
After selling small batches of Sporty & Rich merchandise to test demand, she eventually decided that pursuing it full-time was a risk worth taking. She mentions that uncertainty didn’t (and still doesn’t) scare her, thanks in part to growing up with family members who weren’t scared of failure. “I wasn’t scared because I knew I had to make it work,” she says matter-of-factly. “In my mind, there was no other option. I didn’t want the other option.“
What many people don’t realize is that its success didn’t happen overnight. In its early stages, Oberg did everything herself, from production to packing. “Back when I started the brand in New York, I would go to Chinatown to produce the t-shirts, then go to FedEx to ship them out. I also had a full-time job, did brand collaborations on my personal Instagram, and was DJing on the side for extra income. I’d spend all my money on this, but it was a choice. I wanted it so badly,“ she recalls, her calm yet steely ambition still evident in her tone of voice ten years after launching.
Oberg moved to LA to bring Sporty & Rich to life. As the brand grew, she learned how to delegate. “I’ve learned so many lessons since starting the brand, but one of the biggest things is learning to surround myself with people who did things I didn’t know how to do,” she shares. She credits her various teams, including operations, finance, wholesale, accounting, and sales, as a significant part of the label’s success.
Since launching a decade ago, the brand has collaborated with a growing list of globally recognized names, including Adidas, Lacoste, and Prince, and opened its flagship store in New York City. They drop twice a month, 24 times a year. “Our brand has always been built on newness and this drop model,” she starts. When asked about upcoming releases, she teases the launch of a new golf line. “It’s a relatively new category with a lot of potential to create a wardrobe for women and younger girls who play golf. This will be a big step for us,” she shares. With some of Sporty & Rich’s top markets located in Asia, they recently entered the Chinese market, too. “It’s something people have been asking for for a while,” she shares.
The brand has had a cult-like following from the beginning, and Oberg credits this to committing to the same vision from the very beginning. “Aspirational luxury brands and sporty or streetwear aesthetics used to exist in totally separate worlds,” she explains. “What we’ve done is combine the two in a unique way and bring access into this world without having to be ultra wealthy. We have t-shirts that sell for $60.”
With a strong following also came the inevitable: copycat brands. “Right now, the whole old money, country club, tennis club look is so popular. You’ll see brands capitalizing on it because it’s trendy now, even though they looked totally different a year ago. But people can tell when things are not authentic,” she reflects. “These days, I think a lot of people want things for the wrong reasons. They see founders flying private jets and hanging out with rappers, but not everyone actually wants a brand, or is willing to do what it takes to get there.”
What truly matters in building a brand, she says, is going inwards, although it is a lot harder now than it was ten years ago. And she’s not wrong. Currently, there seems to be an identity crisis happening: scroll online and you’ll find users “decoding” the secrets to personal style or obsessively categorizing themselves into aesthetics, only to identify with a different aesthetic the next month. “There are so many influences and influencers these days. But once you find out what you love to do, it’s such a gift. You’ll feel in your bones that you’ll do whatever you can to make that happen,” she shares in a hopeful tone.
There’s something deeply satisfying about seeing someone doing exactly what they’re meant to be doing. “My taste hasn’t really changed. I’ve just always been into this aesthetic,” Oberg says. She is the ultimate Sporty & Rich girl, living and breathing the brand she was subconsciously building back when she was pinning magazine editorials to her bedroom wall as a child.
“My goal was never to have a famous brand or to be a public figure. I simply wanted to wake up and feel like I love what I do,” she says. “When I sat with myself early on, I realized that Sporty & Rich would give me that feeling.”
By MARELLA Ricketts. Photographs by DAVIT GIORGADZE and DUDI HASSON, courtesy of Sporty & Rich. Digital associate editor: Chelsea Sarabia.
