el.  “We’ve spent the last 18 months refining this range to align with one of our original taglines for the brand, ‘designed to perform’,” P.E Nation co-founder Pip Edwards told Inside Retail.  “We wanted to create high-performance pieces that feel, look and perform so well that the wearer can reach for them daily, without even thinking.” Beyond launching the new collection, P.E Nation has plans for future stores following the successful opening of its Sydney flagship last year. “Our vision and purpose for the flagship was to have a creative and collaborative environment as much as it needed to be a retail space,” Edwards said.  “Having that footprint in P.E Nation’s home city has been a huge personal and business milestone for us. It’s a dynamic, interactive and immersive space, located in the heart of the CBD, and it allows our customers to discover the collections and feel the energy of P.E the minute they step inside the store.” Prior to launching a flagship store, the business was focused on wholesale and direct-to-consumer sales. However, now that it has experienced the benefits of being able to showcase its entire range of products in one place, Edwards said they “absolutely have plans to open further spaces”. Speaking to Inside Retail last year, Edwards said the business wouldn’t launch hundreds of stores, but would instead focus on fewer, key locations.  “It’s about using retail to create that ‘pinnacle’ brand moment; a few great stores in great locations in the right cities around the world. That’s our plan going forward.” Culture of collaboration The menswear collection comes on the heels of P.E Nation’s partnership with sportswear giant Rebel to create a capsule collection centred on the Women’s World Cup. P.E Nation co-founder Claire Tregoning told Inside Retail that the business has always aimed to service all sports, and that it had been a long-time champion of female participation in sports, something it has in common with Rebel, and which made the collaboration easy. “Rebel is the home of football, so this was the perfect fit,” Tregoning said.  “We’re inspired by women in sport, [and] with just four pieces — two jerseys, shorts and leggings — it’s a small capsule, but it’s what it stands for that counts to us most.” According to Tregoning, the creative campaign for P.E Nation’s Women’s World Cup line was modelled on, styled and photographed by the brand’s employees, and features the brand’s tagline, inviting customers to ‘join the nation’.  “[It’s about being] part of the team, acknowledging, supporting and celebrating women in sport [and] encouraging women to raise the playing field and be involved,” she said.  While Rebel is the latest business P.E Nation has partnered with, the brand has a history of collaborating with other brands — often working together to make strides towards sustainable fashion and foster the next generation of talent.  For example, P.E Nation played a key role in The Iconic’s First Nations incubator program, which delivered targeted mentorship and training to Gunggandji designer Elverina Johnson of label Pink Fish, Mt Isa designers Glenda, Jaunita, Dale and Cheryl Mcculloch of label Myrrdah, and Kuranda-designer Briana Enoch of label Jarawee. According to Edwards, the program was a two-way opportunity to share the business’ knowledge with up-and-coming designers, while also learning from them. P.E Nation has also been a part of the Ethical Trading Initiative since 2016. “We’re working on continuously researching and improving [our] practices so we can minimise our impact, from the fabrics we source, to packaging, swing tags, and the business’ emissions output,” Edwards said.  In FY22, 88.5 per cent of the business’ active leggings, and 82.5 per cent of its sports bras, contained sustainable materials, such as recycled polyester made from plastic bottles, and non-virgin nylon that repurposes fishing nets retrieved from the ocean. The business’ new fabric, Airform, is made up of 85 per cent recycled materials.