It’s crunch time for Pip Edwards. Having just wrapped her show at Australian Fashion Week earlier today, the founder and creative director of activewear wunderkind P.E Nation must be looking forward to a break, now the final look has shown and the champagne has popped.
Not so, says the reigning queen of athleisure.
“Post Fashion Week is actually where it all ramps up, to be honest,” she tells marie claire. The show has been in production for a whole year, so once it’s over, it’s time to start work on the next collection. “And then it’s all on,” says Edwards. “There won’t be a slowdown. We’re just excited to get going again.”
If it sounds like a relentless pace, it is. It’s also a fundamental part of the P.E Nation DNA, which Edwards started with co-founder Claire Greaves to fill a gap in the market that she herself embodied. “I was the customer,” she explains. “I was a working single mum” – she shares teenage son Justice with her ex-partner and Ksubi founder Dan Single – “I was time poor. I was juggling a career, wanting to look good, trying to fit in some fitness. And it really was the solution to a really busy, multifaceted, fast-paced life.”
The greatest lesson in that is to have firm boundaries. I wish I had realised that a lot earlier, but I’m getting that now
Pip Edwards
P.E Nation is much bigger than Edwards now, but the brand shows no signs of slowing down. For such a mainstay of the Australian streetwear scene, it’s easy to forget it only launched 8 years ago, in 2016. The brand is run by a team who are empowered and hungry: “I don’t micromanage, I hire people to do their job,” Edwards says of her approach to leadership. Growth and expansion have been key priorities – today, P.E Nation boasts 95 retail accounts globally. Apart from Australia, their second biggest marketplace is the US, followed by the UK and Europe.
It’s taken sacrifice and compromise to keep up that stellar trajectory, but “that’s just the nature of the beast,” says Edwards. “And it all makes sense in the moment of missing out on things and striving for balance, which you never actually get. The greatest lesson in that is to have firm boundaries. I wish I had realised that a lot earlier, but I’m getting that now.”
That said, Edwards is quick to acknowledge that healthy boundaries aren’t always possible, especially not in the early days of launching a fashion empire. “When you start a business, it is all consuming,” she admits. “It’s all or nothing, that’s what start-up mentality is, and you’re making those decisions for the long-term game.” For Edwards, her son was always the justification for those sacrifices; “everything is for him.”
It’s actually more powerful to say no. It’s more powerful to not be accessible. But you have to earn it, you have to work your way there.
Pip Edwards
Eight years in, she’s finally ready for her next era. She won’t be slowing down, of course, but she’s feeling more confident than ever about enforcing some boundaries. “Going forward, there’ll be a lot more no’s,” she says. “It’s actually more powerful to say no. It’s more powerful to not be accessible. But you have to earn it, you have to work your way there. And I think part of the beauty of being with that struggle and juggle, and always saying yes, is exploring and being curious. That’s been part of the growth. But now, rather than trying to build a business, now I can actually intentionally direct the course.”
So what can we expect to see from P.E Nation next? Edwards says there’s been a shift in culture, reflected in the fashion landscape. The word she keeps coming back to is ‘seamless’ – the new collection will be more tonal, more muted, more balanced. “It’s a palate cleanser,” she says. “It will be very unexpected in terms of what we’re known for and what we’ve built the brand on. No logos, none of that stuff. It’s an elevated presentation.” Don’t worry, though. The brand’s signature wearable, sports-inspired aesthetic isn’t going anywhere. “I think women want that functional element in the sense that it just works back with everything. That’s why this new direction is embracing that – but still with the P energy!”
It’s not just a P.E Nation at this point. It’s a P.E World.
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