Puma is driving performance: How Another Cotton Lab plans to continue its growth

Since its launch in 2023, Another Cotton Lab has grown from a Düsseldorf-based lifestyle label into a company that achieved a double-digit million euro turnover in 2024. The next phase is set to follow, focusing on increased performance, more of its own stores and a stronger international presence. The collaboration with Puma is a gateway into a market where the label aims to become a much stronger player. In an interview with FashionUnited, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) David Ebisch explains how far Another Cotton Lab intends to push its transition into a performance brand.

A running shoe, a compact running capsule and the fusion of two very different brand worlds will mark Another Cotton Lab's collaboration with Puma, launching on September 24. Initially, this appears to be a classic collaboration. However, for the Düsseldorf-based label, there is more to it. “For us, it is above all a proof of concept within the sports industry,” said Ebisch.

Another Cotton Lab has established itself in the lifestyle segment in recent years, but the barrier to entry in the traditional sports market is different. Credibility and time are particularly necessary in the business-to-business (B2B) sector with sports retailers. “When an established sports brand like Puma develops a running shoe with us, it sends an important signal to the market,” said Ebisch. “It allows us to show that Another Cotton Lab is not only capable of apparel and lifestyle, but also wants to be taken seriously when it comes to technical sports products.”

Running shoe as a strategic step

In addition to the shoe, the collaboration includes a deliberately small apparel capsule. For this, Another Cotton Lab's bestsellers were further developed with Puma. The range includes running trousers, a unisex running jacket, running shirts and long-sleeved tops, a tracksuit and accessories. It is no coincidence that a running shoe is the next step in the brand's development. “When you are developing a brand, shoes naturally become a topic at some point,” said Ebisch. At the same time, the team had great respect for the technical complexity. “We are runners and triathletes ourselves and know what a running shoe has to do.”

Puma, from the entrepreneur's perspective, brings what a young brand cannot build itself in the short term: technical experience; running shoe expertise; and decades of sports heritage. Another Cotton Lab, in turn, sees its strength in a more contemporary interpretation of running, where performance, fashion and everyday life intertwine. This combination is set to define a much larger part of the business in the future.

From lifestyle towards performance

“Sport will make up a much larger part of our collections,” said Ebisch. Running is just the first major step. Cycling and swimming are next on the agenda, with both areas already in development or production. Trail and trekking will also be added, and in the long term, pilates and yoga are to be given greater consideration again.

However, Another Cotton Lab does not want to become a classic performance brand. “Our strength lies precisely in the combination of lifestyle and sport,” said Ebisch. “A product should perform during training and at the same time look good enough that you want to wear it before or after.” This not only shifts the product range, but also the way the company plans and distributes its collections.

D2C remains the engine for growth

Another Cotton Lab's business has so far been clearly focused on direct-to-consumer (D2C). “Our B2B business is currently much smaller than D2C,” said Ebisch. The company can react faster in its own online shop, test new themes and release capsules at short notice. Nevertheless, the brand does not want to abandon retail. On the contrary, with increasingly technical products, brick and mortar retail is set to become even more important, albeit selectively. “The retailer and its entire language must fit the brand,” said Ebisch. At the same time, Another Cotton Lab wants to have a say in which parts of a collection actually make it onto the shop floor.

The company has learnt from its first wholesale seasons. Some retailers initially bought very broadly, sometimes including styles where the team already had doubts about their sales potential. In individual cases, the company voluntarily took back goods rather than risk a heavy markdown. “We don't want to pursue a sales policy where everything is drastically reduced in the end,” explained Ebisch. Today, Another Cotton Lab is available from retailers including Zalando, Snipes, About You, Breuninger and Peek & Cloppenburg. The extent to which the wholesale network will grow in the coming years will, however, also depend on which markets the company enters through its own channels.

Further stores in planning

The plans for its own brick and mortar retail are particularly concrete. In May 2025, Another Cotton Lab opened its first flagship store in Düsseldorf's Carlstadt district. Now, more locations are set to follow. “Further locations will be added in the next 12 to 16 months,” said Ebisch. A second store in Düsseldorf is also planned. Discussions are already underway for Cologne, Munich, Berlin and Hamburg. A first location in another European country is also on the agenda.

Another Cotton Lab is not pursuing a purely sales-driven approach with its stores. The existing Düsseldorf store is even to be redesigned and the pure retail space deliberately reduced. “The focus in Düsseldorf was never just on sales,” said Ebisch. The store is intended to be more of “a meeting place”. The planned second Düsseldorf location is intended to translate this approach more strongly towards sport. Running and cycling will play a greater role there, as will joint runs, rides and meet-ups.

For Another Cotton Lab, its own stores are thus becoming the counter-model to a standardised rollout, in which retail space, brand identity and community come together.

Tapping into international markets via D2C

Internationally, the company is also not pursuing a classic wholesale-first approach. France, the US, the Nordic markets and Poland are currently among the most exciting regions for the brand. The team has its sights set on Warsaw in particular. Instead of initially looking for as many retail partners as possible there, Another Cotton Lab is already considering its own location, possibly directly linked to a running club concept like the one the brand started with in Düsseldorf.

“For us, these are countries and cities where we would rather lead with our own stores than go big in the retail sector right now,” said Ebisch. France is already serving as a test case for this strategy. Before entering the market, the company was repeatedly told how difficult the country is for new brands. Another Cotton Lab responded by producing a large part of its running campaign in Paris and working closely with people from the local running scene. “That worked incredibly well,” said Ebisch.

A pattern is emerging from this. First, the brand builds relevance through D2C, campaigns and local communities, and only then does it decide whether a market can also support its own retail space.

Infrastructure as a growth advantage

The fact that Another Cotton Lab can tackle this expansion relatively quickly is due to the company's history. Behind the brand is Yarn Studios GmbH, founded in 2016 by David and his wife Franziska Ebisch. For years, the company developed brands, collections and campaigns for others before Another Cotton Lab was created in 2023 together with creative & art director Niklas Janik and brand manager Felix Adams. “We therefore didn't have to start from scratch,” said Ebisch. Suppliers, staff, warehousing, logistics and large parts of the infrastructure were already in place. “From the outside, it looks as if everything was created within a few years. In fact, there is almost a decade of preparatory work behind it.”

In addition, the company has a comparatively high level of vertical integration for a young brand. Creative services are largely handled internally. The company has established its own company and office in China, where it also manages quality control. “We want to do whatever can sensibly be done in-house ourselves,” said Ebisch. This control costs money, but it is a decisive advantage given the pace of growth.

The growth is correspondingly significant. In Another Cotton Lab's first year, turnover was around one million euros, according to the company, and by 2024 it had already exceeded ten million euros.

Community as a market test

The Sunday Running Club plays an important role in this development. What began as a print on a T-shirt developed into a real running club in Düsseldorf and later into a network in Hamburg, Berlin, Munich and Cologne. Another Cotton Lab also organises regular runs in New York. Ebisch does not claim to have invented the concept. “Running clubs have always existed,” he said. The difference was the early combination of running, fashion, lifestyle and coffee culture. “I do believe that we have helped to shape the current running club hype to some extent.”

For the company, this community is now more than just brand communication. It provides clues as to which products are working and in which cities there is already demand and brand awareness. Nevertheless, Ebisch does not want to make the economic function the sole starting point.

When asked when a community is truly credible and when it is merely marketing, he answers with figures that can hardly be artificially generated. “When 2,000 people are standing in front of you and want to run eight kilometres together, that's real to me. Or when you announce a run three days in advance and more than 500 people show up.” This is even more evident abroad. “When you're in Central Park in New York at seven in the morning and 400 people want to run with you, even though you don't have your own location there, you realise that something has really been created.”

Cycling and swimming as the next categories

Another Cotton Lab now has to prove that this approach can also work outside of running. With cycling and swimming, the brand is entering categories in which it has to compete more on product performance. There will also be further partnerships. For the coming year, Ebisch is already holding out the prospect of another project with a major partner. The aim is not to copy the business model of established sports corporations. “We come from lifestyle and fashion and combine that with performance,” said Ebisch.

This is precisely where he sees the gap. In cycling, the aesthetic is well established, while in swimming, the fashion selection is comparatively small. “We don't have to invent new materials for this. Many fabrics and technologies have long existed. The decisive factor is how you turn them into a product, how you design it and place it in a new context.” For Another Cotton Lab, the collaboration with Puma is therefore above all the start of a phase in which it remains to be seen whether the success from fashion, community and running can also be translated into a broader performance business.