This is How You Build a Brand for Women
Nike take notes. Featuring Brand Chat Vol. 5: Pruzan co-founder, Lexy Copithorne.
I could probably write 1,000 words on NikeSKIMS but plenty of folks have beaten me to it (including
, , Jordan Daniels, and .) When the news broke – much like with SKIMS x The North Face – I got lots of texts and DMs (thank you!). Kim Kardashian commands attention.I am not a SKIMS customer – neither their offering nor their messaging appeals. But I know folks love the product and heard in my DMs that their commitment to inclusive sizing (both online and in stores) is both more robust and more consistent than other brands.
Still, I can’t help but feel that Nike, in its ongoing effort win with women, is taking a shortcut. In his piece, Daniel-Yaw Miller called it a “shortcut to cultural cache.” In my texts and conversations with friends, I called it a “shortcut to gaining relevance with women” (far less pithy.)
Nike’s “boy’s club” culture has been well documented. By bringing in SKIMS and employee 000001 Kim Kardashian, they’re hopscotching the real work of building a culture that’s truly and fundamentally oriented around serving women. Rather than embed it in the brand DNA, they’re Frankensteining NikeSKIMS to deliver the relevance they’re currently unable to provide. (Nike employs plenty of women – at all levels – but the number of women in an organization doesn’t mean it’s any less of a boy’s club. Ask me how I know.) I would have loved to see a women-focused brand led by one of their signature athletes. Make Jordan Chiles the Jordan of her generation! As it is, I cannot get over Kim Kardashian’s willingness to align herself, time and time again, with brands and people that represent anything but “female empowerment.”
End rant.
I happened to hop on a call this week with Jessie Hyman and Lexy Copithorne, the founders of Pruzan (we’re trying to do something fun together, stay tuned!) and mentioned that the NikeSKIMS news felt like the perfect opportunity to tee up an interview I’d done with Lexy.
If you don’t know Pruzan, a boutique women’s running brand founded in 2022, you’re in for a treat. They’ve been called “The Row” of running – more a reflection of their sophisticated silhouettes than their price point, which falls squarely in the SOAR-level premium sphere – and have developed a thoughtful approach to outfitting their community. I loved this conversation with Lexy, which only reiterated the value of having more brands in the running ecosystem intentionally built by women for women. Enjoy!
Brand Chat vol. 5: Pruzan
In conversation with Lexy Copithorne, co-founder
What was your introduction to running? Do you remember what you wore?
Running wasn’t something I sought out. It was just part of training for other sports. In high school, off-season conditioning meant beep tests, time trials, and track work (humbling). Basketball practices were filled with baseline-to-baseline suicides (even more humbling). At the time, running wasn’t the goal—it was just a means to get better at everything else. I was in full basketball gear—loose drawstring shorts, a tee, and high-tops.
What inspired you to launch Pruzan? Was there a single moment that sparked the idea, or was it an evolving realization?
You know that moment when you’re staring at your drawer of workout clothes thinking, why do I have to choose between looking good and actually performing? That’s where Pruzan started. Once my cofounder Jessie and I started talking about how to fix it, we couldn’t stop.
Pruzan is the answer to that question—a brand that doesn’t just support movement at the highest level but feels like an effortless extension of how we actually live. High-performance gear that doesn’t make you feel like you’re dressing for a different version of yourself.
How did you approach designing the range? What problems were you trying to solve?
We questioned everything—why sportswear is still divided into rigid men’s and women’s categories, why technical apparel often defaults to a similar aesthetic, why many brands assume we all want to wear the same uniform. As the list grew, we landed on a few non-negotiables:
Performance first, always. If it didn’t perform, it wasn’t worth making. From day one, our gear had to be built for marathon distances—with technical details, a superior fit, and the kind of lasting comfort we weren’t getting from women’s running apparel.
Challenge predictable aesthetics. We avoided tropes like racing stripes, abrasive neons, and hyper-feminine fits in favor of bold, wearable color, and silhouettes balancing fitted and relaxed elements that reflected how we as athletes mix our gear.
Build a wardrobe, not a uniform. Instead of dictating what a "Pruzan runner" should look like, we designed a range within which runners could define their own style—no boxes, no fixed aesthetic, just gear that moves with you.
A few years ago, running brands that emphasized style were often seen as lacking in performance. Now, the idea that style and performance can go together is more accepted. But I feel like Pruzan is taking a different approach compared to other fashion-forward running brands. Can you talk about your ethos here?
Performance and style aren’t opposites—they inform each other. While many sportswear brands treat style as an overlay, slapping trendy colors or logos onto existing silhouettes, we take the opposite approach. Our aesthetics emerge from function—style is a natural byproduct of technical design that enhances movement.
Our customers are intentional about everything—training, travel, daily environments. We design for that full picture, where performance and style aren’t in competition—they’re in conversation.
My most worn piece is our fitted tank—it layers perfectly under a run vest, and the fit, feel, and function make it a natural part of my everyday wardrobe. Pruzan is not about fashion for fashion’s sake—it’s about creating intentionally designed performance pieces that move with you.
There are only a handful of women-founded running brands among a sea of new brands founded by men. Why do you think that’s the case, and what challenges have you found in building the brand?
My experience in sports has always been shaped by men—through product design, industry leadership, and the assumptions embedded in performance gear. Women have long had to adapt to apparel that wasn’t built for them, from my high school basketball team wearing hand-me-down men’s uniforms (Lee: mine too!) to the broader lack of technical running gear that ultimately led to Pruzan. That precedent persists today: men’s performance gear is abundant, with endless variations in fit, fabric, and function, while women’s collections are often limited, less technical, and secondary in priority. And critically, there are still too few women designing for the female form, which perpetuates this gap.
Building Pruzan has meant working against that precedent. As a female-led performance brand, one of our biggest challenges is proving that we not only belong but deserve to exist at scale. There’s an internal pressure to get everything right—because if we underdeliver, it reinforces the false notion that women’s performance brands are niche or lesser than.
And I can hear it in my own voice—the instinct to over-explain, to leave no space for doubt, is the very thing we’re up against. But that pressure, that relentless refining and sharpening of intent, is also a kind of feminine force. It’s not about proving something but building something undeniable.
At the end of the day, we’ve let performance speak for itself. Our gear is crossing finish lines all over the world. And with a female-led lens on fit, comfort, safety, and self-expression, we’ve created gear that serves athletes beyond just women.
Pruzan is building community through Team Pruzan—I love that this is explicitly about racing. Can you talk about the inspiration behind this approach and why it’s important?
At its core, Pruzan is a performance brand, not athleisure. We design for committed performers: runners who expect their gear to work as hard as they do. Team Pruzan is a crucial extension of that ethos.
Unlike clubs tied to a single location, we’re an international collective united by mindset, not geography. Some members are first-time marathoners, others are sub-elites chasing PRs. The thread connecting them isn’t pace or uniformity—it’s a commitment to movement, progression, and personal expression.
I love that Team Pruzan feels like an eclectic, self-selecting community. It’s a space where different expressions of running exist under one brand umbrella, all driven by the same underlying energy to show up, move, and explore the world through running with openness and curiosity. It’s the most honest expression of Pruzan thus far.
What’s it like having Jessie as a co-founder? What do you each bring to the table?
Jessie sees running from the inside out—she’s a lifelong runner, an encyclopedia of women’s run culture, and obsessed with stress-testing gear for real performance. Her user research background keeps Pruzan athlete-focused, ensuring function leads design.
I see Pruzan from the outside in—how it connects to culture, integrates into daily life, and shapes identity beyond running. My role is creative direction, storytelling, and making sure Pruzan feels as intentional in its aesthetic and emotional impact as in its performance.
We represent two ends of the Pruzan spectrum: Jessie, the seasoned runner and multi-marathoner; me, the novice who just trained for my first. She leans into bold, expressive Pruzan looks; I stick to my all-black fitted set.
That push-and-pull is what makes Pruzan different. We care deeply about making something that feels authentic to runners, and our perspectives help us do this. We’re always learning. Nothing is designed in isolation. Every decision is a conversation.
What’s next?
We're focused on getting better, not just bigger. More unique community experiences, constant product refinement, and thoughtful additions to our line. The goal isn't to make more stuff – it's to make the right stuff to build an enduring wardrobe from season to season. Gear that becomes the obvious choice for serious runners and supports their personal style.
Quick Thoughts
Things That Drew My Eye or Ire…
I was in Charleston this week with my family and I was keeping an eye on what folks are wearing. On has fully infiltrated the wardrobes of the Southern male, I saw them everywhere.
I’m very into the color and styling of U Miami’s new Fear of God uniforms and “Court Green” Basketball 2 PE shoes, though the team looked better than they played in losing to Notre Dame.
Hikerkind is speaking my language, here.
While in a slightly warmer climate, I got to test out some kit that SOAR kindly sent me, including their Split Shorts and Ankle Socks. I was super impressed with the short’s floaty fabric and bonded seams, which make them feel weightless. I did size up to an L because I heard SOAR can run small and I am glad I did. I’m obsessed with the socks, especially the color-blocking. Can’t stop wearing them.
Here’s my full look pre-run, complete with my Left on Friday sweatshirt, trusty Cannon Mountain cap, Saucony Endorphin Speeds (still really holding up!), and perfectly coordinated with my son’s color bubble toy.
This was the perfect palate cleanser, thank you for that. Hooray for brands that put women at the center of the design and development process!
Loved this read!! Such a great brand