Former Nike exec launches new sportswear brand Omorpho

Former Nike executive Stefan Olander is looking to bring in a new era of sportswear with premium sports and fitness start-up Omorpho featuring products designed to strategically distribute weight across the body to improve fitness, speed and power.

Omorpho has been developing its gravity sportswear for more than three years to create a collection that makes the wearer “fitter, faster and stronger” no matter the workout to challenge the misconception that lightweight apparel is better for all sports and training.

The Gravity Sportswear collection uses MicroLoad to amplify the effect of any workout by strategically distributing small amounts of weight across the body and constructed with premium performance fabrics to provide comfort and elasticity for maximum range of motion during any type of training.

The visible weighted gravity spheres that make up MicroLoad are strategically placed for functionality and intentionally to deliver an aesthetic that boosts confidence to give the wearer more from every workout, adds the brand. With the concept going through more than three years of rigorous testing, athletic research and a meticulous product creation process.

Stefan Olander, co-founder of Omorpho, said in a statement: “We’ve always been told that what we wear for sports and fitness should be as lightweight as possible, but the first thing we do to get stronger and fitter is add resistance. So why not build it into what we wear?

“Sports apparel today is optimised for competition, but most people compete less than 1 percent of the time. We’ve created a beautiful and functional collection for the other 99 percent, using a completely new approach to deliver better results by adding small amounts of weight that don’t restrict movement.”

Omorpho wants to challenge the misconception that lightweight apparel is better with its weighted workout Gravity Sportswear

Olander, a former vice president of innovation at Nike, founded Omorpho alongside TBWA’s incoming chief creative experience officer, Ben Williams, and developed and brought the new sportswear brand to market with a group of former senior Nike executives. The company recently completed an “oversubscribed” 5 million US dollar seed round, led by Chicago based sports/tech venture capital firm KB Partners with participation from Bullish, Viking Macabee, ex-Nike executives and several family offices.

Omorpho, named after the Greek word meaning beautiful, have also tapped a line-up of ambassadors featuring athletes, artists and celebrities chosen to demonstrate the broad application of Gravity Sportswear from sport to dance to general fitness.

The Omorpho ambassadors include NFL player Julio Jones, Grammy, Emmy and Tony award-winning actress, singer and producer Cynthia Erivo and BMX athlete, actor and model Matthias Dandois. As well as tennis player Ajla Tomljanović, choreographers Brian and Scott Nicholson and heptathlete Annie Kunz.

Commenting on teaming up with Omorpho, Erivo said: “An active lifestyle and staying fit are essential to my physical and mental well-being. When I was introduced to Gravity Sportswear I was taken by the boldness in the design of the product and amazed by the feeling I got when working out in it. The weight of the product essentially disappeared once I put it on and I felt feather light once I removed it following training. This is truly the next era of fitness.”

Tennessee Titans wide receiver, Julio Jones added: “I’ve played football my whole life and training apparel is a given staple, so when I first got to try on Gravity Sportswear my first thought was - “I can’t believe no one has done this before, it’s a game charger.”

Omorpho’s Gravity Sportswear collection is available for men and women and includes long and short-sleeve tops, vests, biker shorts, and leggings, available exclusively at Omorpho.fit. Prices start from 100 US dollars.