Philly online retailer launches private-label sportswear collection for the girl-on-the-go | Elizabeth Wellington

With her brand new women’s wear line OTG — that stands for On the Go — Center City-based entrepreneur Marguerite Adzick is the Donna Karan of active fashion.

But instead of the tailored trousers, blazers, and cashmere sweaters at the core of Karan’s 1980s 7 Easy Pieces for the woman on the move, Adzick’s modern-day, work-hard, play-hard grouping features leggings, a long-sleeve T, a crop top, a tote, a pullover, and a cross-body bag. The easily mix-and-match pieces range from $36 for the crop top to $158 for the pullover and come in three core colors: navy, raspberry, and black.

“We wanted to create a collection that was both highly technical, as in you can wear it to Soul Cycle, but still has a relaxed aesthetic,” said Adzick, the 31-year founder of the online athleisure retail website, Addison Bay. Adzick, formerly a producer of Lilly Pulitizer’s e-commerce site, launched Addison Bay in September 2018 to sell liquid leggings, crop tops, and jackets from fashion-forward athleisure brands like Koral, Terez, and my all-time favorite, Spiritual Gangster. And after just 15 months in business, and a lot of around-the-town pop-ups at gyms, boutique fitness studios, and healthy eateries, Adzick launched OTG earlier this month.

I recently chatted with Adzick about OTG, how she’s different from Lululemon and why sports bras just don’t sell.

It was always in my business plan to launch a private-label activewear line. We just planned on launching it in year four or five. But 15 months into the business, we saw holes in activewear offerings specifically in [our customers'] core building-block pieces.

She needed pieces that were versatile enough to wear on her morning workouts, to school pickups, on errands, while she’s traveling and beyond. But essentially she was bored with her basic black leggings. For example, our leggings are made from luxe fabrication that wicks sweat but are also fashion-fashion forward, and they are so soft that you want to pet your legs. But the waistband stays put, so you never have to yank them up.

Because we strive to give an elevated fashion-forward feel. OTG is neither high-performance activewear, nor ready-to-wear. These are meant to be the building blocks in her wardrobe, as in everything in this collection can be worn together. She’s meant to wear it from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Within our first week, we’ve sold hundreds of leggings, but our pullover is our No. 1 style. It’s a polyester, cotton, spandex blend with a turtleneck and specifically placed zippers that dips in the back to cover the behind.

That third layer is what really elevates the outfit. It’s what takes you from gym to your brunches and errands. It’s what really completes the look.

Because our girl is really on the go. She carries her laptop, her lunch, wallet, appropriate shoes, a water bottle and she needs efficient bag that does that. Our bags are made of neoprene that’s not only fashionable, but can survive spills.

Yes, our cross-body holds a 13-inch laptop.

Sports bras, believe it or not, are one of our lowest sell-through products. I think it’s because people can’t see your sports bras. People can always see leggings [and jackets and sweatshirts] so they don’t want to allocate the dollars.

That’s what our research shows.

Well we just finished our spring 2020 line where we will add kelly green pieces to the collection, as well as some more white pieces. And in fall 2020, we are looking to bring in some olive. We’d like to add more core pieces, but we are still working on exactly what those pieces are. Our customer will let us know soon.

OTG is available on Addison Bay’s website: www.Addisonbay.com

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