t ambitions for as many as 20 standalone boutiques. Rather than committing to stores immediately, the strategy was to prove demand online, establish wholesale partnerships and determine whether a brand born in London’s Notting Hill could win over shoppers in one of the world’s most competitive activewear markets. This month, almost a year after its online launch, Sweaty Betty’s Power Leggings, cross-body bags and colourful training sets have arrived in 10 Rebel stores. For Sweaty Betty, making a debut in Rebel gives the brand national visibility, lets shoppers see and try the products in person and places the brand inside a retailer already trusted by performance-focused customers.  Enter The Nevada Company  While Sweaty Betty itself remains owned by US footwear and lifestyle group Wolverine Worldwide, The Nevada Company is the local custodian of its ANZ ambition. Owned by New Zealanders David and Elle Steanes, the family business has more than four decades of retail and distribution experience and previously introduced Sweaty Betty to New Zealand. Beginning online gave Nevada a decisive reading of the market. “Going online first let us prove that demand was real before committing capital to bricks and mortar,” David told Inside Retail. The evidence came from behaviour that extended into Sweaty Betty’s loyalty program, which repeatedly outperformed direct discounting, suggesting customers were responding to the brand’s community and identity. “The surprise was how quickly she found us,” he said.  The challenge, however, was the high cost of earning a customer’s attention in a crowded market. Digital retail had validated demand while revealing the extravagant entrance fee charged by contemporary customer acquisition. Australia itself offers Sweaty Betty a substantial audience, though it is scarcely uncontested. In 2024, Australia’s fitness and athletic clothing retail sector was estimated at $4.2 billion,;on top of this, sports apparel was estimated to generate $2.3 billion last year alone. Australia also boasts a rather fitness-focused demographic, with around 85 per cent of adults describing themselves as active and almost half claiming to exercise at least three times a week. Steanes made an assessment that Australia does not necessarily need another activewear brand, but it needs one that makes women feel like themselves. “That is the space we are here to own,” he said. Australian shoppers, he observed, are knowledgeable and research-led, rewarding authenticity while detecting “filler” with admirable speed.  An ironic dispute The year also unfolded against uncomfortable publicity in Britain. In December last year, Sweaty Betty became embroiled in unresolved disputes concerning advertising language, including personal trainer Georgina Cox’s claim over “Wear the Damn Shorts” and Nixi Body co-founder Kelly Newton’s objections to similar campaign phrases. Cox later alleged that an Instagram account belonging to the brand’s global president had liked comments mocking her. Sweaty Betty said it could not address matters related to ongoing litigation, and the company has denied that any individual holds exclusive rights to the disputed phrase, claiming it is reviewing its marketing language. For a business founded upon female empowerment, the dispute supplied an especially caustic reputational contradiction. Nonetheless, its Australian chapter is now taking physical form across Bondi, Broadway, Chatswood, Miranda, Claremont, Everton Park and four Victorian locations. Rebel will carry a curated range spanning Power sets, T-shirts, jackets, tracksuits and accessories. Steanes described the partnership as the anchor that enabled timely expansion, joining proof of demand with credible national reach. Standalone stores remain under consideration, though he insists they will follow the community rather than lead it. After a year spent measuring clicks, loyalty and controversy, Sweaty Betty has reached the shopfloor, with the next examination occurring in Australia’s ultimate activewear destination.