Walmart touts activewear line with Michelle Smith and Stacey Griffith

Fashion designer Michelle Smith and SoulCycle instructor Stacey Griffith are teaming up with Walmart on an activewear and swim line, the retailing giant announced on Friday. 

The Love & Sports brand is available on the company's ecommerce site and is starting to roll out to 1,500 Walmart stores, the company said in a news release. The initial offerings feature 121 women's items, including running shorts, sweatshirts, sports bras and swimsuits, priced between $12 and $42.

Smith co-founded the Milly apparel brand and designed the dress worn by Michelle Obama in her Smithsonian portrait. Griffith, meantime, has a devoted following as an indoor cycling instructor. The couple met at a SoulCycle class. 

"Michelle and Stacey collaborated on the development process from start to finish, thoughtfully creating every design around the performance level of an athlete and the emerging fashion trends and colorways in fitness, streetwear and swim," Denise Incandela, Walmart U.S.'s executive vice president of apparel and private brands, said in the statement. 

The pandemic has increased activewear purchases, with the category growing 37% in 2021, according to Incandela, citing statistics from the NPD Group.