Outdoor Voices licenses UK and EU expansion through Focus Brands

Outdoor Voices has signed a licensing deal with U.K.-based brand management firm Focus Brands to enter the U.K. and the EU, according to a Tuesday press release. The move extends a rapid international push that has already taken the American activewear label into South Korea, China and Southeast Asia this year.

What does the deal cover?

Focus Brands will deploy some of its established regional partners across development, sourcing, marketing and distribution. The rollout begins with two channels: wholesale and e-commerce.

The stated goal, per the release, is to "introduce the brand to new consumers while maintaining the distinctive identity that has made Outdoor Voices a recognized name in American activewear."

Focus Brands brings relevant category experience. The company has previously managed sportswear and lifestyle brands including Nautica, Ellesse, K-Swiss, Patrick and Reebok, per the release.

Who owns Outdoor Voices now?

The backstory explains the pace. Private equity firm Consortium Brand Partners acquired Outdoor Voices in 2024, a few months after the brand closed all its stores and moved to an online-only model. Consortium also owns California Pizza Kitchen, Jonathan Adler and Draper James.

Since the acquisition, Consortium has worked with the brand on three fronts, per Tuesday's release:

• building strategic wholesale relationships
• expanding e-commerce capabilities
• growing the international partner network

That wholesale strategy showed earlier this year, when Outdoor Voices launched a limited-edition collection of women's, men's and kids' apparel and accessories at Sam's Club.

Founder Tyler Haney leads the company again. She left in 2020 amid rumored clashes with then-board chair Mickey Drexler and returned for the 2025 relaunch.

What did the executives say?

Haney framed the European expansion as a return to the brand's founding premise. "Outdoor Voices was built on a simple idea: that movement should be fun, accessible and something that brings people together," Haney said in Tuesday's release. "It's exciting to see that original spirit continue to find new audiences around the world. The opportunity to bring Outdoor Voices to communities across the UK and Europe is a natural extension of what we set out to create — a brand that inspires people everywhere to get out and Do Things."

Michael DeVirgilio, Consortium founding partner, said the firm's strategy pairs brand positioning with local operating partners. "Outdoor Voices has an incredibly compelling brand identity and a philosophy that resonates well beyond its home market," DeVirgilio said. "Our strategy has been to pair the brand's unique positioning with exceptional operating partners who can unlock its potential in markets around the world."

He set a concrete financial target in the same statement. With U.S. growth, the Asian expansion and the Focus Brands partnership, DeVirgilio said Outdoor Voices is "on a trajectory to surpass its previous peak in global retail sales by the end of 2027. And we're just getting started."

Why the timing matters

The expansion lands in a crowded market. Athleisure and lifestyle athletic brands have been reinventing their value proposition and shifting into new categories such as sweaters, denim and even luxury handbags. As the line between athleticwear and casual sportswear blurs, brands must fight harder for shopper spending and invest more in innovation.

For a label that shuttered its entire retail footprint in 2024, licensing into three continents within two years marks a fast reversal. The 2027 sales target now gives Consortium a public benchmark against which to measure it.