Activewear and athleisure pioneer Sweaty Betty’s founder on inspiring women to change their lifestyles
- Tamara Hill-Norton launched Sweaty Betty in London in 1998 with the then rebellious idea to ‘inspire women to lead an active lifestyle’
- With more than 60 stores worldwide, the brand is making its Asian debut in Hong Kong this month
The term “athleisure” might be in common use now, but back in 1998 when a 26-year-old Tamara Hill-Norton launched Sweaty Betty, the landscape was very different.
It was the era of workout videos and home gym equipment. As for activewear, women’s options weren’t much of an upgrade from their old P.E. kits. They certainly weren’t something you wore out and about, let alone to trendy cocktail bars.
“Twenty-one years ago, when I had this very strong vision about the brand, it was all about inspiring women to lead an active lifestyle,” says Hill-Norton. “It was a bit of a rebellious idea saying, ‘Right, this is really cool to work out.’ There were three of us working on it – me, a shop designer and a graphic designer from my past job – and we were really passionate about the concept. We knew exactly the type of customer we wanted.”
