Greatness Wins to Launch Womenswear With Misty Copeland
Greatness Wins is taking the plunge into womenswear, with a major assist from its cofounder Misty Copeland.
The sports brand was created last June by Chris Riccobono, founder of Untuckit, alongside the ballerina, Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and former Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, and hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.
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Riccobono said that from the beginning, there was “a roadmap” to one day develop womenswear. “We talked about doing it about one year after men’s. We’ve gotten lots of requests for it and we finally got it right.”
Copeland, who had formerly been an ambassador for Under Armour, said that while she didn’t design the line, she “curated the styles,” drawing on her experience as “a woman and an athlete.
“For Greatness Wins’ first women’s collection, we felt it is really important that we take the time, during the development and design process, to make sure every item in the line would be accessible and appealing to all body types,” Copeland continued. “As a dancer, athlete, and a mother, it can be very difficult to find performance wear that truly hits the mark on fit. I wanted this collection to empower women to pursue their passions and achieve their goals, whatever they may be. It’s about helping all types of women find their fitness journey.”
Riccobono said that similar to the menswear, the women’s collection is “an athletic performance brand first,” but is also appropriate to wear outside the gym. “You can work out in it — medium or high impact — but you can also wear it when you’re not working out.”
Greatness Wins labels it SportFit, which means it uses technical fabrics that “work hard, wash well and actually last. We prioritize superior fits you can depend on to stay the same, product to product, year after year. And we value clean, timeless style. It’s not about bells and whistles; it’s about quality, fit and performance,” the brand explains on its website.
The launch collection includes leggings, sports bras, tank tops, T-shirts, shorts, dresses, jackets and joggers.
Copeland, who was wearing a pair of the high-waisted leggings for the interview — one of her favorites pieces in the collection — said the line “fits to perfection. It’s soft and comfortable and flattering.”
Riccobono said the founders saw a “hole” in the men’s market for a brand such as Greatness Wins, which claims it has high quality and consistent fits, “and we saw the same in women’s.” At the time of the launch, he said he drew on his experience launching Untuckit, which started as a men’s shirt designed to be worn untucked. That company has now grown to have sales of more than $200 million and operates more than 80 stores.
Copeland also drew on her experience with Under Armour for the launch. She was the first ballerina to sign on as an ambassador with a major sports brand, but while that experience was groundbreaking, she said that she would not have considered a similar role this time.
“I knew that if I was going to take the next step and get back into fashion, it would have to be as a founder,” she said.
Riccobono wouldn’t project how large he expects the women’s collection to be, but said: “Our goals are very high. We always hear that women’s sells a lot more than men’s, but we’ll see. We have said that we want to be the next great performance athletic brand. And adding women’s completes the brand. I think it can be a massively big part of the business: the hand feel is incredible and the fit is really perfected.”
Copeland added: “It’ll take time, but I feel really confident that we can get people to believe in the brand.”
Greatness Wins offers men’s shirts, shorts, pants and accessories for sports ranging from golf and yoga to running, basketball, cycling, hiking and cross-training. Going forward, RIccobono said there are a few categories he’d still like to enter, including young childrenswear — the brand already offers some kids’ clothing — as well as performance sneakers.
Since the launch, Riccobono said Greatness Wins has performed well both on its direct-to-consumer site as well as in golf shops. The brand is exploring wholesale and is also working with corporate accounts. “Our repeat rates for our menswear are close to 80 percent and we hope to do the same with women’s.”
The women’s collection will retail for $54 to $115 and the official launch is Thursday on the Greatness Wins website.
Copeland has long been an advocate for empowering women and breaking barriers. In addition to her work with Greatness Wins and her role as the first Black woman to be named principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, she has her own production company, Life in Motion Productions, focused on bringing representative stories of artists past, present and future, and normalizing the arts experience. Her first independently produced project, “Flower,” is a silent arts activism film that uses dance to help raise awareness about intergenerational equity. She is also an ambassador of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and MindLeaps, an arts education program based in Rwanda that helps young people get off the streets and into an academic setting. Last year, she launched The Misty Copeland Foundation, which aims to bring greater diversity, equity and inclusion to dance.
“Everything I’m a part of has the same mission — opening sports and athleticism to everyone and helping make that a part of their everyday lives,” she said. “It’s the same thing with my filmwork and my foundation. Everything promotes a healthy lifestyle.”
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