South Activewear is an Australian owned and operated online activewear brand based in Sydney. We specialise in limited edition activewear collections and delighting our customers
South Activewear was founded and created by Physiotherapist, Lucy Shaw. The concept for South came about through Lucy's passion for quality and affordable activewear.
But she wanted it to be about more than just another clothing company - the brand needed to have meaning and purpose. So we teamed up with the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation to donate $1 from every sale to this very special cause.
Although we're only a small business, Lucy has an amazing team behind her that assist with all stages of product development - from the design and concept, all the way to the distribution of the product!
How We Chose Our Manufacturer
Manufacturing is HARD. Trying to find an ethical manufacturer who pays their staff above award wages, treats them with care and respect and produces a high quality product, is almost like trying to find a needle in a haystack!
But it was worth the delays to ensure the manufacturer’s morals matched the brands. But boy did we make some costly mistakes in the process.
The steep learning curve was all worth it, as we now have Catie on board.
Catie is our incredible link to China and basically South’s female equivalent to a knight in shining armour!
Why do we donate to the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation?
When we started putting the concept for South Activewear together, one of the biggest goals was that it needed to have a purpose greater than producing and selling activewear. It needed to make a difference.
In 1999, Lucy’s uncle (her father’s brother) passed away as a result of brain cancer. She has seen the devastating effect this has had on her father. The current statistics for brain cancer are alarming:
- Brain cancer kills more people under the age of 40 than any other cancer
- Currently there is no cure
- 80% of people diagnosed with brain cancer will die within 5 years
- The survival rates of brain cancer have not changed in 30 years
South Activewear is passionate about supporting brain cancer research to help to change these statistics. Through purchasing South products, you are contributing to making a difference to brain cancer in Australia!
SUSTAINABILITY AT SOUTH
At South, we are always looking for ways to improve our environmental impact. Currently we do the following things:
We are working towards using sustainable materials. We are currently testing a range of materials for quality and are working towards offsetting our carbon emissions (shipping and production).
Why do our products have names?
All of our products are named after significant women in our lives. We would have loved to include the significant men as well, but ‘Trevor’ for a pair of female tights just didn’t have the same ring to it!
Each of our collections also has a particular theme - so look out for this on our socials at each launch!
