YoungLA vs Gymshark: Which Is A Better Athletic Workwear Brand?

Working out is not something you do without safety.

That’s why a lot of people prefer going to a gym with good facilities, it is the same reason why some people chose a certain brand of athletic wear over the other.

This article is all about the YoungLA and Gymshark brands, these are two brands that commenced operations in the 20th century and have done well for themselves by breaking the jinx of setting up a start-up company, which becomes successful within a short period.

I will let you into their individual stories and also compare them. Don’t forget to check out as I also drop my two cents on which brand does better as an athletic workwear brand.

Differences between the YoungLA and Gymshark Brands

Before I get the ball rolling with the development story of these two brands, let me run you through some notable differences which exist between them.

The foremost difference you should know about is that YoungLA was founded in America where they perform all their operations, while Gymshark was established within the soils of Britain.

Also, the YoungLA has two persons as the pioneers who are on the hem of their affairs, even after its creation.

I would not say the same for the Gymshark brand as it maintains a singular CEO who is also the co-founder of the establishment.

Meanwhile, the other partner in the project left to focus on other early start-ups initiated by him.

Other differences between the YoungLA and Gymshark brands are their target audience and their product outreach.

I have probably seen one or two ads about Gymshark either on Instagram or any other social channels and that is when I first learned about them some months ago.

What I saw then depicted the brand as an all-male company, that caters to the production and distribution of athletic wear for men only.

But at the time of writing this article, I found out they now have female wears up for sale too.

That is indeed a big expansion move, but you see that step differentiates it from the YoungLA brand which had the vision of providing men with seasonal athletic wear and they are still doing that without adding the women’s wear. The target was men and their focus remains such.

In the same vein, did you know that Gymshark has more public recognition than YoungLA? Well, if you don’t know then you might be hearing about it for the first time here.

The Gymshark has more followership than YoungLA on different social media channels and has equally surpassed the shores of British soil to establish offices in Asia and North America.

YoungLA still runs all its operations in the US, precisely on a 10,000-square-foot warehouse. Similarly, Gymshark started operations in 2012 while YoungLA wasn’t created until two years after in 2014.

YoungLA vs Gymshark

Brief History of YoungLA Brand

YoungLA was founded by two Indian-American brothers Gurmer and Roby Chopra in the year 2014. The little dropshipping business-turned-brand was founded in Los Angeles, California, where it currently has its headquarters.

The two tried out corporate jobs as fresh out of the campus and guess what? They didn’t find it fulfilling enough, and judging from the root of a long line of business acumen; they decided to quit their work and become entrepreneurs. 

This was when they started the YoungLA brand name with the selling of random products particularly clothing on the e-commerce store e-Bay and later on Amazon.

During the venture, the brothers discovered a niche in the athletic clothing line which was mostly focused on women, and decided to make things for men too.

Gurmer and his brother started selling men’s shorts for bodybuilding on Amazon, to test the waters and later began their e-commerce site where they sold their products.

In addition, to be just a start-up company, they were faced with delivery hurdles but they did the delivery by themselves, a feature which still makes them out from other brands.

YoungLA vs Gymshark

The brand did not get to where they are today so easily the brother’s first factory was their house with one employee, now they are currently making all their favorite designs in a 10,000-square feet warehouse in California with over 27 full-time workers.

Even though the brand gratifies itself as one of the few brands in the athletic clothing industry that focuses on quality, it did not get the attention it needed.

At least not until an athlete Jerdani Kraja came on board and brought a turning point in the business engagement of the brand. Gurmer confirmed this in an interview with his brother, anchored by Insider Monkey.

Their products include running shorts, gym pants, compression shorts, and cut-off tanks all for men.

YoungLA vs Gymshark

Brief History of Gymshark Brand 

Ben Francis and his school friend started what would be the Gymshark brand on 12 June 2012. They were still in their early 20s when Francis dropped out of school to pursue the Gymshark dream.

He worked as a delivery man for some time and eventually built a website due to his obsession with the web.

With the site, he started dropshipping with his friend Morgan, but sales were very low. So he started making his products with the proceeds of the dropshipping and that was how he started his brand’s would-be products.

Francis’ inventory was not a blow et until he heard of the BodyPower Fitness trade of 2013 in Birmingham.

He took his first public wear Gymshark Luxe tracksuit to the fare and it all sold out signaling new dawn in his business.

Soon the product was all over the internet and social media platforms like Facebook, making over $42,000 in sales a day as against the usual $400 per day.

Francis knew this was big, so he dropped everything about college and put all his energy, time, and resources into the project. 

YoungLA vs Gymshark

Gymshark was catapulted into the limelight, started shipping on its own, and used the direct-to-customer marketing strategy used by most e-commerce businesses.

The brand operates and has its head office at Blythe Valley Business Park, Shirley, West Midlands. It equally has branches in Hong Kong, London, Mauritius, and the US, in Denver, Colorado.

Gymshark currently ships to hundreds of countries with their products ranging from vests to leggings, T-shirts, shorts and other workout wears with its headquarters in Solihull, England.

It is known as one of the first brands which utilized social media marketing to a very high potential, garnering an audience from mostly Youtube.

It further launched the Gymshark Lifting Club in 2019 on the same site as its main office, which served as a memoir of Francis’s commitment as a fitness enthusiast.

Head-to-Head Comparison between YoungLA and Gymshark

The comparison exercise between these two brands will take the following forms;

  • Price.
  • Design and style.
  • Build quality.
  • Quality.
  • Product items.
  • Brand Popularity.
  • Work environment.

Price

The good thing about these brands is that they are very affordable, oh! I didn’t include that in the description but it is totally true.

They are parading themselves as a high-end brand, besides haven’t been around for the much time to be competing in price with the like of Aphalete and Lululemon.

I saw a pair of Powerlifting shorts on a popular retail company when I started my research for this article and I was surprised at the price.

You can’t actually think that $30 on a pair of innocent-looking shorts is a bad investment, would you?

YoungLA Men’s BodyBuilding Workout Gym Shorts ~~ $30

Well, on a similar note Gymshark is also using the low-end price to their advantage as they keep recoding massive sales with every passing month. The Gymshark Women’s leggings go for as low as $25.

Design and Style

The design used in the production of YoungLA athletics workwear is the same as the ones used by other brands.

It is the same aesthetics, just a difference in logo design and then the brand name.

The style reflects sporty outfits which is the purpose of making them, or the idea behind their production.

It is also the same aesthetics infused in the Gymshark products ranging from their shorts to their leggings and tank tops for men. 

However, I noticed that some of the running shorts by Gymshark have a small opening by the side, just beside the brand’s logo.

They make the shorts look more fitting and spacious for running. Also, in most of their t-shirts, the brand’s logo is styled at the top right side of the shirt, just right above the chest.

The brand also accommodates women’s workout wears, so you’d be expecting subtle designs which allow women to work out in good shape and still appear sexy.

Build Quality

For the build quality, the YoungLA shorts look very much like regular shorts except for their logo signature sitting below on the right leg.

But they are made from French Terry, a different fabric, unlike other brands which mostly use polyester.

The Gymshark ones are also made with polyester. However, this does not discredit them in any form because they have products made with so much detailing on quality.

YoungLA also gives off the ‘we are a quality brand’ aura and it’s fine by me because I know they are gaining ground gradually.

Although their products have been criticized severally by customers, for either splitting at the crotch for shorts or the appearance of holes in their body-hugging T-shirts; they do not have any record of outsourcing their production to substandard factories either in Asia, where production cost is low.

Quality

The quality of most products from YoungLA is questionable, as it has downsized noticeably since its originals in 2014.

Their customers complain of poor quality products although the price is not exorbitant.

One customer chipped in that the cause could relate to their regular unveiling of new products. They now have too many products to produce that they are losing out on quality.

Meanwhile, Gymshark has also had their fair share of complaints but their products still come up in quality than that of YoungLA; even more, now that they are going global.

Product Items

The items offered by YoungLA relating to fitness and athletic activities include tank tops, running shorts, bodybuilding shorts, breathable t-shirts, compression shorts, and even boxer briefs that are body hugging.

All their products are for men, they are yet to include women’s wear in their collection. It is quite similar to Gymshark as they also bring to the market wear like shorts for running, and moisture-wicking t-shirts.

The only difference is that they also offer women wear like leggings, chest brief tank tops for women, running bras, and super slim-fitting workout shorts.

Brand Popularity

Did you know that Gymshark has more public recognition than YoungLA? Well, if you don’t know then you might be hearing about it for the first time here.

The Gymshark has more followership than YoungLA on different social media channels and has equally surpassed the shores of British soil to establish offices in Asia and North America.

YoungLA still runs all its operations in the US, precisely on a 10,000-square-foot warehouse.

Plus YoungLA’s social media followership is not to be compared with that of Gymshark which totaled 5.5m followers on Instagram.

Work Environment

The working condition of these two brands of athletic is till sound and in good condition. 

I presume the reason behind this is because they are yet to operate for more years like the older brands, whose factories have reportedly turned into sweatshops.

Final Verdict

I will be very straight with my take on which brand garners more merit from me, and I’m picking the Gymshark brand over the YoungLA brand.

My decision comes after considering the variety of products offered by Gymshark and also their non-gender-based specification.

It all adds up to their great performance both locally and internationally. So I’m pitching my tent with them, for quality and variety of products.

Conclusion

To call it a day with this article, I hope my take is your take too because I can’t go wrong with this.

Especially with all the love for the Gymshark brand and its products, which do not in any way mean that YoungLA is inferior.

They need improvement, which I believe they are on track to achieving. Till next time I feed you with great reviews off of the well of my intellect and observatory mind.

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