Months after seeing the brand through a successful relaunch at Australian Fashion Week and skippering in a new era for the nine-year-old brand, PE Nation co-founder Pip Edwards is stepping back from the brand.
Edwards announced on Instagram yesterday that she was resigning as creative director. In the statement she said, “Following PE Nation’s celebrated and successful rebrand at Sydney Fashion Week, I will be stepping back from the role of PE Nation’s creative director, to pursue new creative challenges. My time leading the brand as creative director has been an incredible run, and while I am handing over that role, I am maintaining my PE Nation directorship and substantial shareholding. I am forever grateful for and proud of what we have created, and PE Nation will always be in my heart and soul.”
Claire Greaves, who founded the label alongside Edwards, stepped down from the brand in March this year before the rebrand. Both Greaves and Edwards will remain shareholders in the brand, which is majority-owned by Hotsprings, which also owns Rebecca Vallance.
Edwards’s replacement as creative director has not been named.
Since its launch in 2016, PE Nation has become a household name. Greaves (then Tregoning) and Edwards met while working at Sass & Bide, establishing a brand that went on to win the National Designer Award in 2018, launch skiwear collections, partner with global names like H&M, see sales spike during the athleisure-wear age of the pandemic, release a unisex range, and open a Sydney flagship.
