Exclusive: Fabletics doubles its college merchandise through College Shop expansion

New DTC toolkit // August 18, 2026 Exclusive: Fabletics doubles its college merchandise through College Shop expansion By Julia Waldow Fabletics Fabletics is expanding its college apparel offerings as it continues its quest to become a $2 billion company. Just in time for back-to-school, the activewear brand is cranking out licensed merchandise for 200 U. S.

colleges and universities, including the University of Indiana, the University of Michigan, Emory University and San José State University. The products are available online through Fabletics’ College Shop, as well as through 14 Fabletics retail stores near colleges, and include everything from hoodies to boxy tees to belt bags.

Full-price styles start at $64. 95, with discounts available for VIP members. Fabletics first launched College Shop as a test in the spring. It partnered with around 100 schools — many chosen based on licensing relationships — and saw “really phenomenal results” in a matter of months, Meera Bhatia, the president of Fabletics, told Modern Retail.

Fabletics then decided to double its College Shop partnerships to have a “whole spectrum” of schools and appeal to new and existing customers, Bhatia explained. “We’re always looking for ways to bring new, innovative products to our VIP members that they’ll be excited about,” Bhatia said.

“A lot of people are college fans and have college affiliations, so I think it’s broadly applicable [to our existing base]. But we do think this is also a net new offering for us that can help bring new customers into the brand.”

Fabletics, which launched in 2013, has more than 3 million active customers, the vast majority of whom are VIP members and get access to exclusive drops and monthly merchandise credits. Most of Fabletics’ business is online, but its retail stores are seeing consistent comp increases.

Fabletics surpassed $1 billion in revenue in 2025, an increase of 18% year over year. It’s now working to double its revenue to $2 billion and quadruple its EBITDA by 2030. Fabletics’ College Shop merchandise, which is helping grow sales, sports a mix of standard and custom graphics and requires approval by each school.

“It’s a lot of individual conversations,” Bhatia explained. It’s always been Fabletics’ goal to work with a mix of small, medium and big schools, she said. “There’s an obvious Big 10 list of schools that drive a lot of volume, but we wanted to have representation,” Bhatia added.

Fabletics is looking to grow the program, and students can request gear for their college or university online, at Fabletics. com. “We definitely do look at the results of who’s putting what into that form, and we can always go approach a school if we see demand,” Bhatia said. This month, Fabletics is bringing College Shop into stores for the first time.

In a pilot program, it’s adding College Shop merchandise to 14 stores near major university campuses including Arizona State University, Michigan State University and UCLA. The number represents about 10% of Fabletics’ store fleet, which stands at around 120 stores.

Each participating store will offer a handful of core styles and help Fabletics to determine whether it wants to broaden out the program. “In any one store, we only have so much space,” Bhatia said. “So we are just assessing, ‘Does this excite the customers? Is it something that works on an in-person shopping basis?’

… If we see good results, we definitely can look at expanding.” Fabletics will work with college-age influencers, including its own interns, to promote College Shop. It plans to publish College Shop content on social media, especially Instagram and TikTok.

This marketing strategy, paired with a focus on stores near colleges, does play into a younger demographic, Bhatia explained. “But fans come of all ages, right?” she asked. “It’s meant to appeal to everybody.” Fabletics has worked to build its college-age audience in other ways.

In 2021, Fabletics sponsored the Jacksonville Classic (a preseason college basketball tournament) and announced partnerships with NCAA players. In 2023, it set up its first on-campus store, at the University of Southern California. (That location has since closed.)

Fabletics has also partnered with college students through the influencer program Home From College. More broadly, Fabletics’ College Shop expansion comes at a time of growth for the company. As it works toward becoming a $2 billion company, Fabletics is stepping up its retail efforts across every channel, including wholesale and e-commerce.

It also plans to triple its international footprint and open 20 new stores worldwide over the next year. Already, Fabletics is making pr