and connection with customers. “It really comes down to wanting to be the leader in women’s functional lifestyle apparel, and we really want to be able to connect with her through how we launch products,” she said.  The next chapter is focused on elevated store experiences, strategic product innovation and a deepened commitment to customer connection in both the physical and digital realms. A fresh retail concept  Founded in 2014, Nimble has proudly remained a self-funded business throughout its 11-year journey.  Eschewing external investment has allowed the founders to grow on their own terms – but it also meant waiting until the business was truly prepared before scaling its bricks-and-mortar ambitions. Now, Nimble is ready to start rolling out its new retail concept across Australia, beginning with its latest store in Westfield Warringah Mall. Unlike Nimble’s first stores in Bondi Beach and Armadale’s High Street, which were built under budgetary duress, Nimble’s new location is intentionally placed alongside like-minded Australian fashion brands rather than giant sports retailers.  The aim: to reflect a harmony between athletic function and boutique style.  “The new store concept is a balance between functional lifestyle apparel and Australian fashion design, with a focus on natural materials and a calming palette,” Santilli said. “The new store design also includes features like spacious change rooms, private shopping experiences, and a higher emphasis on customer service.” This customer-first approach carries through to the changing rooms, designed with the lives of busy women in mind.  Santilli described the new store design as including “spacious change rooms, private shopping experiences”, emphasising comfort for mums by ensuring “more than one can fit a pram”. Nimble’s Armadale store is slated to get a refresh in line with the new store concept early next year before rolling out additional doors. Santilli told Inside Retail that Nimble’s retail footprint is estimated to grow from three locations to 12 and then 15 in Australia over the next five years. Designing for a functional lifestyle  Much of Nimble’s recent success flows from reading and responding to real women’s lives. This has inspired the co-founders to move away from traditional activewear into what they refer to as “functional lifestyle”. Rather than conventional activewear, today’s Nimble product range emphasises versatile pieces – lifestyle pants that look tailored but feel like loungewear, office-appropriate shirts in stretch fabrics, and the brand’s ‘Sweat to Splash’ collection for swimming, running or everything in between. “That’s where we’re really seeing opportunity – in how she’s going about her day and servicing our garments to offer her solutions with that.” Alongside their ambitious physical retail strategy, the co-founders are still focused on innovating products that will push the envelope on what the functional lifestyle category can be. “Product innovation is something that we always seek to constantly grow and evolve,” Santilli said. Nimble’s ‘In Pace’ collection, designed with runners in mind, launches in December this year after the brand spent two years developing and testing the fabric. “A lot of our innovation we look at across both our active bucket and our lifestyle bucket as well,” Santilli said. “A lot of it stems from customers’ wants and needs, and sometimes it also stems from purely just our innovation and wanting to surprise her with things that she might not know she needs until we show her.” The journey from passion project to retail player has been fueled by an ability to adapt, listen and innovate – and Nimble’s new store concept and upcoming collections embody the best of that evolution.