What does CLN Athletics owe a late August evening to – and who are the guys behind the upstart in the jungle of workout clothing? Get to know the founders and learn about their exciting vision, where a broader international launch is soon to come.
How was the idea for CLN Athletics born?
The year was 2013 and we were new to the sport of CrossFit. High on endorphins after a tough workout, we were breathing out into the warm sunset of a late summer evening, when the conversation turned to a fact we had noted a few months earlier. Design nerds that we are, we realized early on that the best-designed training garments for the sport were both too voluminous in fit and disappointing in quality. We then realized that with our experience in design and product development, we could do it better ourselves.
Tell us about the name!
Shortly after the idea was born, we started thinking about a name. We both like stylish, clean design and we often meet in it and exclaim: “Nice, really clean!” We quickly realized that “clean” is part of the vocabulary of most CrossFit practitioners: for example, clean as in freewheeling and clean and jerk – at the same time as the idea of eating a clean diet had just caught on. Paleo and LCHF, the trend was so clear: there was a craving for the clean and simple. In symbiosis with the word sport, we were at home and CLN Athletics was born.
What does product development look like?
From day one we have had a rule: either we do it really damn well – or not at all. Per-Oscar Berggren has over 16 years as a product designer at 8848 Altitude behind him, where he is also a co-owner. Together with Robin Rudholm, former racing driver and now CEO of the advertising agency R3 in Borås, the conditions were and are optimal. From having produced sample shorts for ourselves, to t-shirts especially requested by friends of the box – to sales of a few hundred thousand in the first year itself.
Since the beginning, we have been designing with a flirtation with the fashion world, rather than other sports brands. Trends, details, cuts: we are adaptive and like to try new things. However, the focus is always on the athlete's needs: garments that allow maximum movement during high-intensity training. We have short decision-making paths and in addition to the two major collection releases per year, there is the possibility of continuously releasing smaller collections. It's great fun and we are hungry: this is just the beginning!
… and the brand's development in general?
We have grown organically and the biggest investment has been time. It was a 9-1-1 job at the beginning: when the kids were asleep we would text each other and do a night race. Nowadays Per-Oscar works full-time as a product designer and Robin with the advertising agency R3 contributes with expertise and brand building, much of it via social media. The importance of really good-looking images is enormous and for that we have Patrik Johäll at Superstudio in Borås to thank.
Furthermore, we have consciously chosen not to sell our products through traditional sports chains, we stick to our e-commerce and various boxes around the country: around 30 at present and we are always looking for new collaborations.
Speaking of collaborations, do you actively work with team athletes and ambassadors?
That's right, it started back in 2015 when we contacted Lukas Högberg. Then as now, he belongs to the absolute elite in the sport and he rhymes very well with CLN. It gave the brand the best possible start and we had a fantastic collaboration. Now we stand strong with an impressive group of team athletes and ambassadors, who all greatly inspire us and our followers. A wonderful group that we look forward to expanding further!
Tell us about the future of CLN Athletics.
The core and our DNA is the CrossFit athlete. However, we can now see how the sport is developing and we are responsive. We also see that the products can be used outside the box to a greater extent in the future, for example during the circuit workout or the run in the forest.
2018 will be a very exciting year for CLN Athletics with launches in at least two more markets. Our goal is to be seen internationally as a given player in the high-intensity training segment. The future looks bright!
