Sweaty Betty rebrands with new campaign to end toxic exercise narratives

Women’s activewear brand Sweaty Betty, a division of Wolverine World Wide, Inc., is rebranding with a new campaign focused on ending toxic narratives around women’s exercise.

Sweaty Betty’s new look is aiming to empower women with a newer, healthier and inclusive ‘Don’t Sweat It’ message, ditching the “push harder” rhetoric and purplewashing within the fitness industry for self-love, sisterhood, and individuality.

The activewear brand tasked London-based creative agency Fluoro to create a rebranding campaign that speaks to women’s evolving relationship with exercise, as they increasingly prioritise health, wellness and capability over conforming to body ideals.

This is brought to life with a refreshed brand identity highlighting Sweaty Betty’s new mission “to embrace our bodies and what we can do with them,” alongside a new ethos “Don’t Sweat It”.

Melissa Mullen, global brand president of Sweaty Betty, said in a statement: “It’s important for us to ensure the message we’re putting out into the world isn’t about how exercise can make your body look, but how it makes us feel and what it can help us do. Women are subject to enough pressures without someone else defining the ‘right’ way to exercise.

“Thankfully, a reckoning is starting to happen surrounding health and actualisation vs aesthetics. We want to be at the forefront of that movement. Fluoro understood our mission from the beginning, and we’re thrilled with the way they’ve brought it to life with a new brand vision that we know will inspire and resonate with our global community.”

Sweaty Betty works with Fluoro to rebrand to inspire women with a healthier and inclusive ‘Don’t Sweat It’ message

The rebrand aims to redefine the way women view exercise and body image in response to the norm of faux-feminism and faux-empowerment in the female activewear industry and showcases a series of ad campaigns designed to inspire women, alongside a new look and feel to advertising, stores and clothing, and a return of the OG Sweaty Betty orange.

Research by the creative agency, whose other clients include Adidas, Ivy Park and R.A.D., exposed problematic messaging norms that either capitalise on women’s insecurities or undermine the empowerment goals they claim to promote.

Within the sports industry, advertising was found to be dominated by a “push harder” rhetoric that dresses up bullying language and a focus on physical appearance as motivation. While the lifestyle sector co-opts messages of empowerment and feminism, claiming to embrace all body sizes and shapes whilst advertising activewear designed to lift, shape and disguise “problem areas”.

In response, Fluoro has collaborated closely with Sweaty Betty to create a refreshed brand identity with a series of ad campaigns featuring an inspirational, diverse cast selected for their attitude, energy and stories.

Sweaty Betty’s new identity will also now be embodied in three pillars designed “to lift women up”: ‘Shaped by our sisterhood’ driven by the spirit and ideas of the women who wear the activewear brand; ‘Crafted to create joy’ by designing clothes that release a rush and encourage people to embrace self-expression’ and ‘We sweat the small stuff’ by taking the time to perfect everything to highlight the brand’s attention to detail.

Tim Smith, creative director at Fluoro, added: “We wanted to reassess Sweaty Betty’s offer and core values and reframe them for today’s world. The message of empowerment has been diluted, misused and completely falsified in the broader market for far too long, and Sweaty Betty is the perfect brand to challenge that, as the O.G. of female-first activewear. They have an authentic and important story to tell, and we’re thrilled to be helping them do it.”