Peloton's Cody Rigsby Wants You to Think Outside the Box With New Adidas Collection
It’s an overcast Tuesday morning when Cody Rigsby and I get onto a Zoom call wearing eerily similar oversized blue light blocking glasses. Catching up with the 31-year-old Peloton favorite feels like sitting down with a good friend, who just happens to be ridiculously good looking and model-ready in a vibrant pink T-shirt. His smile is contagious—as it should be. The 31-year-old from California native (and Peloton’s Cycling Director) has had a big year. Not only has Peloton’s paid user base more than doubled over the COVID-19 pandemic, but Rigsby’s also got some big news in the pipeline: A new partnership with Adidas.
Launching March 25 on adidas.com, in select adidas retailers, apparel.onepeloton.com, and in select Peloton showrooms, the new collection was made in collaboration with Rigsby's fellow mega-popular Peloton instructors Robin Arzón and Ally Love. With sizing from extra small to 2X, with women’s, men’s, and unisex options, the collection will include tanks, tights, shorts, hoodies, tees, crewnecks, sports bras, and joggers ranging from $30 to $85.
“What we built at Peloton and what I've built at Peloton—it’s all come together and allowed me this opportunity to work with a brand that I've looked up to for a really, really long time,” he says. “I'm honored that Adidas allowed me to put my name side-by-side with theirs. It's definitely been a pinch me moment. I feel excited like a little kid.”
Here, Rigsby gives us some more information on what we can expect from the collaboration, what being a part of the Peloton community has meant to him over the past year, and his personal favorite pick from the line.
MH: I love your excitement right now. What makes you amped about this collection?
I love this partnership because it allows us to wear clothes that are outside the box, and it’s a collection for all bodies. There are women's pieces, men's pieces, and unisex pieces. I really hope that people find a piece for them that challenges what their normal is. So, a super femme girl may want to wear a big baggy sweatsuit, and that’s great for her vibe. Whereas, a guy riding #StraightDudesForCody (that’s a hashtag, we have that on Peloton), maybe he’ll want something different and try my favorite pink T-shirt that I’m wearing right now. I'm all about pushing people into uncomfortable spaces and changing their mindset.
It’s cool to hear you say that this is a line for all bodies, because I don’t think men are anywhere as involved in the body positivity movement as women are. Talk to me about why that’s important to you?
I will credit Peloton for being on the front lines of that. I think when you used to think of exercise equipment, every ad was about “get a six pack abs” or like “lose 20 pounds.” That’s never been our thing. I want to empower the members to be the best version of themselves.
I want them to be strong, resilient, powerful, and empower them to discover what the right kind of movement is for them. I think that there is a shift in our society to celebrating what we're capable of and celebrating our power and our strength and away from it all about being about a perfect chiseled body or a thin body. People are exploring that celebration of not worrying about what they look like, but worrying about what they can achieve and what they can do. A healthy, strong body—it has so many different looks and shapes and forms.
Talk to me about what fitness has looked like for you over the past year, specifically how you’ve leaned into Peloton for community when things look so much different than they did before.
Peloton is uniquely positioned as a digital space for people to come together. What I love most is that there is a seat at the table for everyone in various parts of their fitness journey. You have someone, like a 70-year-old grandfather who hasn't moved their body in a long time, celebrating 100 rides on the leaderboard and creating a new relationship with sweat. That’s awesome. Then, you have the massive athletes. Like we did a partnership with ESPN this summer where you had major athletes competing on the Peloton bike on ESPN. It’s a huge spectrum of people with different goals. And, not for nothing, but we’re bringing really amazing fitness content to places that never had it before. You and I live in New York where there's a boutique fitness space on every corner and really high-end gyms. But someone in middle America doesn’t have that same experience. We’re lucky to be able to bring that to them.
How does it feel for you, Cody Rigsby, to see your name in a press release bringing a collection of clothing to life with Adidas?
Life goes by really quickly, especially life at Peloton, and life as a New Yorker. It’s just really dope that I get to be a part of this. What we built at Peloton and what I've built at Peloton has come together and allowed me this opportunity to work with a brand that I've looked up to for a really, really long time. I'm honored that they would allow me to put my name side-by-side with such a legendary brand. It's definitely been a pinch me moment. I feel excited like a little kid, co-designing a line is something really special.
Can you talk a little bit about what that design process looked like?
It was awesome to work with Ally Love and Robin Arzon and hear about what inspires them and how they wanted to be represented in this space. We all came together on the thought that we did not want it to be limited by gender. So, I’m not afraid to go and pick up the women's pink bike shorts and try to see how I can fit it into my look and make it fab. I haven't tried it on yet, but we're definitely going to go for it.
But, mostly we wanted to create pieces that evoke joy. So you'll see that in different prints throughout the collection that feel very nostalgic. My favorite shorts have this almost like composition notebook pattern on them that feels really fresh. It feels very Saved by the Bell.
So the shorts are your favorite item? Why?
Well, my butt looks really good in them. Whenever you're wearing pants that make your butt look good, you feel good. I also just like the material. It's great for working out and it's versatile. I can wear them for cycling, I can wear them for strength, I can wear them to go for an outdoor run. These styles, they aren’t just for one thing, and that’s what makes them great.
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