Entrepreneurs Enter Partnership In Yoga Market
NZ Entrepreneurs Enter Partnership In Billion-Dollar Yoga Market
Auckland entrepreneurs are making inroads
into the lucrative yoga wear and accessories market by
partnering with one of the world’s largest surf
brands.
MUMU was launched by Auckland-based duo
Lara Jane Maloney and Keli Dierings just over a month ago
and can now announce it’s entered into a partnership with
O’Neill: the American surf brand founded in 1952 by the
man widely credited as the inventor of the wetsuit, Jack
O’Neill.
O’Neill launched its range of womenswear yoga products 5
years ago and saw a good fit to partner with MUMU.
“It’s a big show of faith,” says Maloney.
“O’Neill is a multimillion dollar business and they’ve
chosen to partner with us just two months after our launch
because they like what we do. It’s incredibly
exciting.”
The partnership means some of
O’Neill’s products are available on MUMU’s online
store and the two brands are working on co-produced
garments to release together. They’re also planning a
series of events to get more people into yoga in New
Zealand.
“We’re passionate about yoga and MUMU
is doing exciting things in the industry so it was a natural
fit to partner with them,” General Manager of O’Neill NZ
Jason Falconridge says.
The yoga garment and accessory industry is a multi-billion dollar business worldwide. Canadian yogawear company Lululemon alone has a market cap of $13b. It remains a high-growth industry and is one Maloney and Dierings plan to capitalise on.
“We're going global. Our first shipment came
directly to New Zealand so we could test the market and
marketing strategies. We’ve figured out what works and
what doesn't so now we’re ready to roll out to the rest of
the world, especially to the United Kingdom and US,” says
Maloney.
“The O’Neill partnership has been a
major boost too. It’s important validation and will help
us tap into other markets around the
world.”
Maloney and Dierings met through yoga:
the former was a student of the latter who also teaches yoga
to the New Zealand Warriors. Maloney developed the sales and
marketing strategy for Composite Helicopters which helped them
secure $170m in pre-sales.
ENDS