Five Irish brands revolutionising the athleisure space

Five Irish brands revolutionising the athleisure space
Niall Horgan may be based in Dublin with his wife Orlaith and his two little girls, but he’s a Kerry Pike Corkman through and through.
“Our office might be based on Golden Lane in Dublin,” he says with a grin. “But with the two of us from Cork we are up and down regularly – we wouldn’t want to lose the accent you know?”
With almost 50 people working in head office, and 130 people employed in 12 retail stores across Ireland and the UK, it’s safe to say that Horgan and his co-founders Karl Swaine and Diarmuid McSweeney have a lot at stake as they grow Gym+Coffee to become one of the most recognisable brands in Ireland.
Founded in 2017, Horgan admits that being thrown two major curveballs in the form of Brexit and the pandemic has not been a cakewalk. While initially an online business, the brand now has stores across Ireland and in Belfast, Manchester and Liverpool.

“It has been tough,” admits Horgan. “The first few years in business are always difficult – throw a pandemic and Brexit in on top of that.
"Operationally we’ve had to set up a distribution centre in the UK rather than sending the product from here and having to pay import duty into the UK. So there have been some headaches like that.”
While Gym+Coffee and its logoed hoodies may be instantly recognisable to an Irish consumer, its familiarity and Irishness surely has less resonance to consumers in Britain?
“It’s still really early days there, so customers don’t have the same level of awareness and we don’t have the same number of years under our belts as we have in Ireland, so we are back at the start-up stage over there,” says Horgan.
“We are trying to do what we did here and retail stores are a big part of that. We try to have a strong online presence but the point of difference for us is building a strong community around the business and there’s no quick way to do that.”
This aspect of things has been very important to the success of Gym+Coffee who have hosted over 300 events to date allowing people to socialise and exercise together.
“We couldn’t do that in lockdown, so we’ve only had a few events like that in the UK, albeit some of them very big. It took a couple of years to get that right in Ireland and we’re hoping that it will follow there too.”
Horgan describes the UK market as a “big opportunity” but a “big challenge” for the brand and stresses that they have been absolutely blown away by the support of customers in Ireland since the brand’s inception. In the UK however, Gym+Coffee is just another international brand betting on the strength of its product and brand values to help it compete.
“We are essentially an international brand in that space but the foundation of everything is top quality, versatile products that people will enjoy.
"Hopefully there is a transaction with a brand that matches their values, emphasises the importance of exercise and tries to do that in a social setting. Us being an Irish brand is less important in the UK than it is here.”
The sportswear and athleisure categories are very competitive with intense competition from iconic brands such as Nike, Adidas and Lululemon.
How can a relatively small Irish brand compete against such behemoths?
“We have to make sure our product is top quality in terms of how long it lasts but also in terms of how often it can be worn – working out or chilling out – and we think that we can go toe to toe with the big brands,” says Horgan.
He mentions the importance of price inclusivity (women’s hoodies start at €70).
“We try to be as inclusive as possible in terms of the community we are building, the ambassadors we have and our prices – so many brands are elitist so we are trying to make our product affordable.”
Horgan agrees that selling great products is no longer enough for many consumers who want to buy from brands that align with their values as well as their pockets.
To this end, the company is now on a quest to gain B Corp status. B Corp certification is a designation wherein a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability and transparency on factors including supply chain practices, materials, employee benefits and charitable giving.
Gym+Coffee has been carbon neutral since 2021 and, while this comes at significant financial cost to the business, Horgan says it is something that is right and that customers want now and in the future.
The brand also partners with non-profit organisations such as the Sanctuary Runners – a social enterprise bringing together Irish and international runners including those living in Direct Provision.



