Daniel Blanshay decided early on that he wasn’t cut out to be a secret agent. Although the Montreal native had studied counterterrorism in college, once he realized he wasn’t going to be the next James Bond, he pivoted, starting a financial technology firm and joining Abercrombie & Fitch’s Israeli licensee as the head of retail operations as well as several other companies before being lured back to the U.S. to take over his family’s jewelry brand, Roni Blanshay Designs.
“I knew nothing about accessories,” he said, adding that he is a very “data-driven person.”
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But what he discovered when he dug into the company as director of business development was that there are two areas within fashion experiencing growth: luxury and activewear.
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A lightbulb went off and Blanshay set out to create a brand that blended the two.
Next spring he will unveil Rival, a new luxury performance brand designed by Anthony Keegan, an industry veteran who worked for Giorgio Armani, Canada Goose and, most recently, Bugatchi.
Although the line is not expected to launch until May, Blanshay and Keegan offered a preview of the collection at Rival Activewear Inc.’s New York offices this week.
“Even though the activewear market is incredibly saturated,” Blanshay said, “there’s a niche for innovative sportswear.”
He pointed to the success of collaborations such as Arc’teryx and Jil Sander, New Balance and Miu Miu and On and Loewe as proof that there’s demand for high-end activewear.
He believes there’s an opportunity for a new brand to break into the market by offering the most luxurious and durable products. So Rival went to Portugal and spent a year researching and developing fabrics that were “almost indestructible,” Keegan said, but also felt soft and looked good.
Among the fabrics they developed was a proprietary blend that fuses Dyneema — a military-grade fiber 15 times stronger than steel — with soft, breathable fabrics engineered to last decades. Rival has also partnered with Nanobionics, said to be the world’s leading infrared textile innovator, to create fabrics that enhance recovery and circulation, and incorporated Seacell, a mineral-infused fiber derived from seaweed that nourishes the skin and provides natural antioxidant benefits. Patches that offer a detailed explanation about these fabrics will be incorporated onto the inside of each garment, they said.
The launch will offer train, run and yoga products for both men and women. It will be sold direct-to-consumer initially, with a wholesale launch planned for 2027. Key classifications at launch will center around bra tops and leggings and there are also plans to expand into swim, snow sports, golf, cycling, motorsports and other categories down the line.
The hope is that by the time the Olympics kick off in Los Angeles in 2028 — the home of the company’s design team — Rival will have built a sizable business.
“We’re designing for the discerning and the driven,” Keegan said. “What does the Tom Ford guy wear to the gym?”
They said the line will feature 50 percent performance product, 30 percent quiet luxury and 20 percent fashion. “But we don’t want fashion to be a dirty word,” Keegan said. He added that within each sport, there will be both performance and lifestyle options such as seamless bra tops, Ts and tanks with nearly invisible perforations as well as track suits, joggers and open-leg cargo pants.
The launch will feature around 180 to 200 stock keeping units with a color palette that is “heavy on black” but also features “sophisticated prints,” Keegan said.
Prices are positioned above Lululemon and below Prada, they said, with bra tops averaging $180 to $275; sweats $380 to $900; leggings $230 to $475; joggers $180 to $600, and shorts $220 to $315.
Its mission statement is: “The arena is within. Performance is an art,” and its logo is a square that is intended to resemble a court.
“We’re creating a new tier — a cross between Loro Piana and Special Forces,” said Blanshay, who said the brand has received investment from Philip Duff, former CFO of Morgan Stanley and current owner of Assos Switzerland, among several notable family offices in the United States, Canada and Europe.
He said the goal of Rival is to “tackle the white space of consumers looking for the best product that looks chic, provides milliseconds in a race and centers around wellness and longevity.” He added: “We spared no expense getting this right because you only get one shot and we want to make sure it’s perfect.”