Founded in California, USA in 2015, Vuori is one of the most successful emerging active lifestyle brands of the past decade. In its latest round of funding in November 2024, Vuori secured $825 million, bringing its valuation to $5.5 billion. As early as 2019, Luxe.CO began tracking and was among the first in China to report on the brand’s business developments.
In October this year, Vuori opened its first store in Northern China at Taikoo Li Sanlitun in Beijing. Luxe.CO was invited to conduct an exclusive interview with Andy Lawrence, Vuori’s Senior Vice President of International.
Above: Vuori’s store at Taikoo Li Sanlitun, Beijing
As a digitally native brand, Vuori initially tested the waters in the Chinese market through e-commerce, launching on Tmall at the end of 2022. In 2024, the brand began establishing its offline presence, opening three directly operated stores in Shanghai at Jing’an Kerry Centre, Grand Gateway 66, and iapm Mall.
Speaking about international expansion, Lawrence emphasized that the Vuori team is extremely patient and committed to a continuous learning mindset to deeply understand each local market. Currently, all three Shanghai stores are profitable, with performance exceeding expectations. “Now, we understand the Shanghai market,” he said, “and it’s time to start learning about the Beijing market!“
Above: Andy Lawrence, Senior Vice President of International at Vuori. He has previously held senior international roles at Ralph Lauren and Reiss, and has worked in numerous Asian cities including Hong Kong, Taipei, and Seoul. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature from Dartmouth College.
The following is the full interview.
Luxe.CO: You have extensive experience at well-established brands like Ralph Lauren and Reiss. What led you to join a rising activewear brand like Vuori?
Andy Lawrence: I’ve worked in many countries and traveled frequently for business, so I’ve developed a keen eye for products that are suitable for international travel.
I first came across Vuori at a store in San Francisco, where I bought a pair of joggers. I remember thinking, “Wow, this is the best product—who made this?” Around 2020, I met Joe (Vuori’s Founder and CEO, Joe Kudla). At that time, Vuori was still focused on the U.S. market and international expansion was far off, but we stayed in touch.
In 2021, I officially joined Vuori as the first person dedicated to international business, building the strategy from scratch. Today, my team has around 25 members.
Our headquarters is in San Diego, California, and we have offices in London, UK, and Shanghai, China. Across the company, including retail staff, we now have around 2,000 employees.
Vuori still maintains the energy of a startup. As Joe often says, the brand’s external messaging is very much aligned with our internal values. We encourage people to pursue happiness, live extraordinary lives, and follow their own path.
Above: Kaia Gerber featured in an ad campaign for Vuori’s DreamKnit collection.
Luxe.CO: How did Vuori begin and advance its entry into the Chinese market?
Andy Lawrence: China is a massive market, and the key is patience—waiting for the right moment to enter. Our discussions have always focused on how to make our products resonate better with the market.
We received some early encouraging signals, which led us to conduct trend research. We found that consumer trends in China at the time were highly aligned with our brand philosophy. All of this gave us strong confidence in entering the market.
Originally, we had planned to open a store in Shanghai earlier, but due to the pandemic, we had to delay and instead launched on Tmall at the end of 2022. Since then, our online business has grown rapidly.
Given the market’s vast scale and the distinct differences among consumer groups in various cities, a one-size-fits-all strategy isn’t feasible. You can’t win over everyone all at once. What we did was focus initially on Shanghai, a core retail market with a population of 25 million, to build a solid business foundation. Beijing is the second city we are now investing deeply in.
At the time, we found an excellent location at Kerry Centre in Shanghai, and began building our team from there.
Luxe.CO: Before opening its first store, Vuori launched a six-month pop-up. What’s your view on the role of pop-ups?
Andy Lawrence: Pop-ups allow us to gain deep consumer insights before making major financial commitments. They’re also fun and exciting. But now that we’ve proven the brand’s strength through solid performance, we need to find a balance between short-term pop-ups and long-term market opportunities. Currently, our focus is gradually shifting toward long-term retail planning.
The greater value of pop-ups lies in brand activation—for example, when our Sanlitun store opened, we also launched a pop-up in the plaza. These activities are more about brand interaction rather than simply testing the market, as we already have strong confidence in market acceptance.
Above: Vuori’s pop-up store at Taikoo Li Sanlitun, Beijing
Luxe.CO: What guiding principles has Vuori followed in its expansion into the Chinese market?
Andy Lawrence: There’s a widespread emphasis on healthy lifestyles in the Chinese market—people are more willing to go outdoors and actively engage in outdoor activities. At the same time, consumer preferences tend to lean toward more understated branding and subdued color palettes. These trends are consistent across the Chinese market. Of course, each city still has its unique characteristics—such as climate differences. For example, Beijing’s winters are cold, so we’ve prepared more down products and heavier outerwear for that region.
In my view, whether we’re talking about global markets or the Chinese market specifically, one of the most important principles is listening to consumers. Each new store is planned based on our expectations for the local market, with product assortments we believe are best suited to the area. Our teams are constantly learning and working to understand the true needs of customers—this continuous process of insight generation is what excites me most about each new store.
We now understand the Shanghai market. Now, it’s time to start learning the Beijing market!
Luxe.CO: What kind of feedback has Vuori received in its early stages in China?
Andy Lawrence: The feedback we’ve received at our Shanghai stores has been overwhelmingly positive—whether it’s team operations, product reputation, or sales performance, everything has gone exceptionally well. So far, every store we’ve opened has exceeded expectations and achieved profitability, while our online business on Tmall continues to grow rapidly. Our JD.com channel is still in its early stages, but we’re actively building it out.
What’s been most encouraging and fulfilling about international expansion is the market response to our products. We often hear customers walk into the store and say, “This is the softest fabric I’ve ever felt,” or “It feels amazing to wear this during a workout.” These positive reactions align perfectly with the sales data we’re seeing.
Above: Vuori’s BlissBlend collection, launched in March 2025
In women’s products, our DreamKnit and BlissBlend collections are very popular. For men’s, the Strato Tech and Meta series are top sellers.
Chinese consumers are very sophisticated and understand the true value of our products. Right now, our customer base still consists mainly of first-time buyers, so increasing brand awareness is our top priority.
Luxe.CO: Do you think many Chinese consumers had heard of Vuori before making a purchase?
Andy Lawrence: No, they hadn’t. That’s exactly why our strategy includes opening physical stores in prime locations. Many customers may not have known about us before, but once they walk into a store and interact with the product, it often leads to a purchase—and they fall in love with the brand. This mirrors the successful playbook we used in the U.S.
That’s why we’re so confident about the future. Vuori doesn’t just have a unique product offering—it also delivers exceptional quality that resonates with Chinese consumers.
We had always hoped that our products would appeal to consumers worldwide—but until you actually enter a market, you can’t be 100% sure. Now, we’re seeing that despite differences in product mix across markets, Vuori’s aesthetic and brand philosophy have been well received everywhere we go.
Luxe.CO: What does Vuori’s customer profile look like?
Andy Lawrence: We don’t try to narrowly define a specific target customer. It’s true that a lot of young customers shop with us, but the reality is, our buyers span all age groups. What they tend to have in common is a positive approach to life, a focus on health, and a desire for comfort and performance in what they wear. It’s the same in the U.S. market as well.
Luxe.CO: What’s Vuori’s overall approach to international business expansion?
Andy Lawrence: Joe is a very patient leader. He only takes actions that are right for the brand, not just for the sake of growth.
He’s never said, “Why don’t we open more stores?” or “Can we speed things up?” He cares most about doing things right. When the right opportunities arise, we act accordingly.
In terms of product allocation, we always make adjustments based on store size and customer needs, while maintaining a globally unified product line. So yes, there are differences in product offerings between countries.
When it comes to store rollout, we focus on market density, aiming for multiple stores per region. Currently, we have three stores in London, UK. Not long ago, we announced that British tennis player Jack Draper has become our global brand ambassador.
As for Asia, the premium fitness segment in Japan is still relatively small. We’ve identified promising opportunities there but are still in the exploratory phase, so we’re currently entering the market through wholesale partnerships.
The South Korean market is very different. Over the past decade, the rise of athleisure in Korea has been phenomenal. Celebrity influence is strong across Asia, but particularly in Korea. Most of our Korean customers are still new to the brand.
Above: Vuori store in Seoul, South Korea
Luxe.CO: What are Vuori’s future plans in the Chinese market?
Andy Lawrence: In China, our Sanlitun store in Beijing has already opened. Over the next few years, we plan to open in more cities such as Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chengdu. Due to the nature of commercial real estate in China, our stores here tend to be smaller than those in the U.S., where larger formats allow us to carry a broader range of product categories.
We will continue to roll out our store strategy with a measured, cautious approach, so the number of stores will fluctuate naturally based on market progress. We’ve always emphasized patience in the early stages. If our initial assessment of the market’s potential is correct, China will become our largest overseas business region.
| Image credit: Provided by Vuori, Vuori Official Instagram
| Editor: LeZhi
