• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, September 14, 2021

Peloton and Lululemon -- two of the best-performing brands of the pandemic -- are coming after one another, with Peloton taking the latest swing.

The company, known first for its connected exercise equipment and more recently for its vast universe of digital fitness classes, is introducing a line of private-label apparel inspired by its fitness instructors.

And in a page right out of Lululemon’s athleisure playbook, Peloton is positioning the apparel as a way to “seamlessly transition from class and beyond.” The items, featuring high-compressive performance fabric along with buttery-soft fabric for everyday wear, are for men and women and size-inclusive, the company says.

The debut collection, available both online and in some showrooms, is priced from $15-$118.

Lululemon, meanwhile, just released stellar earnings, indicating that its encroachment into Peloton country is paying off. Last year, it paid $500 million to buy Mirror, connected fitness devices that compete directly with Peloton’s home-workout machines.  Mirror is also expanding digital content.

For the second quarter of its fiscal year, revenue leaped 61%, to $1.5 billion. (On a constant dollar basis, net revenue gained 56%.) Direct-to-consumer sales advanced 8%. The biggest improvements happened in North America, with revenue growth of 63%, compared to international gains of 49%.

Those results beat Wall Street forecasts, with store productivity returning to pre-COVID levels, writes Mark R. Altschwager, a senior research analyst who follows the company for Baird.

Costs related to the Mirror acquisition and air freight continue to elevate expenses, but “all in, the company is firing on all cylinders,” Altschwager says.

He calls Lululemon a “uniquely positioned brand, creating a wellness ecosystem, with an innovative product, digital content, community connections and best-in-class execution….with significant longer-term growth opportunities.”