RYU takes its ‘respect’ message south of the border

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The list of Vancouver brands making an impact in the retail realm continues to grow. And activewear brand RYU has definitely joined the pack.

We caught up with Marcello Leone, the chief executive officer of RYU, to talk about the brand’s growth and expansion, earning respect and what’s next.

Q For those who aren’t familiar, what is RYU?

A RYU stands for ‘respect your universe,’ an award winning urban athletic apparel brand based in Vancouver.

Q How has the brand changed since it first launched?

A It has evolved into an urbanathletic brand that caters to the active person’s life and lifestyle. The urbanite who has multiple interests and activities and needs apparel that helps them to achieve more than their gym goals, but also their life goals. Q And how, if at all, has it stayed the same? A We always loved and kept the name “respect your universe.”

Q You’ve announced expansion plans into the U.S. What made this the right time to do so?

A We are an urban athletic apparel company and we target urban centres, locations that are top tier on global level; we are very successful in the top Canadian cities, Vancouver and Toronto, and the U.S. is a natural evolution for us. It will be a great validation and the next step in our constant growth.

Q How did you choose the cities to open in?

A We are looking for cities with a strong sense of local community but are also well known in the world as tourist attractions: we want to connect locally, but we also require people to meet us, embrace our message and go back to their home-places remaining attached to our brand. Of course, we also pay great attention to the analytics we get from our website and our social channels.

Q What can you share about the #YourUniverse campaign?

A YourUniverse is introducing a part of our name. The part that respects the individual in all of us, knowing that we are all unique and special in our own way. We will use this platform to honour the extraordinary people in our communities that inspire us on a daily basis.

Q What are you hoping people take away from it?

A That we are, in reality, just one human race, and that if we can start by leading active lives, and treat ourselves, our communities, our environment and ultimately our universe with respect, then we will have done our part for a better society. Respecting our individuality, can lead to respect for all. We all have the opportunity and the power to help cause this movement of respect.

Q Lastly, what’s next?

A Hopefully a bit more “Canadian Respect” around the globe — plus, we will have some winter jackets for everyone too coming soon.