After a headline-making exit, the founder is back with fresh partners, a tighter vision, and a plan to reclaim the brand she built from the ground up.
The founder reclaims her roots
Ty Haney is officially back at Outdoor Voices, the cult-favorite activewear brand she launched in 2013. After stepping away in 2020 amid public tensions and internal shakeups, she’s now returning as founder, co-owner, and partner—this time alongside the team at Consortium, the firm that acquired the brand last year.
Haney isn’t calling it a comeback or a relaunch. In her view, the brand never stopped operating—it just drifted from its original spark. Stores closed, the product line stalled, and the once-distinctive voice felt muted. Now, all of that is changing.
The clues were all there
Last week, Outdoor Voices scrubbed its Instagram, changed its bio to “doing things, BRB,” and unfollowed everyone except one account: Ty Haney’s. Fans and fashion insiders noticed fast. On Monday, she confirmed what many suspected—she’s back at the helm.
Haney has been working behind the scenes on her return since last August. While the company had already been acquired, Consortium managing partner Cory Baker made sure to connect with her early—not to ask her to rejoin outright, but to let her know he saw her as essential to the brand’s future.
Not a rebrand, a refresh
The first thing getting updated is the brand’s creative direction. Haney tapped Emmett Shine (founder of Pattern Brands, known for Hims, Harry’s, and Recess) to rethink OV’s look and feel. The result is cleaner, bolder, and aimed at resonating with a younger audience—especially Gen Z women who aren’t necessarily wearing matching leggings and sports bras anymore.
Pieces like the Court Skort and Exercise Dress are still in rotation, but they’ve been tweaked with more fashion-forward cuts and new materials. The standout? A reimagined “Energy Dress” with contrast stitching and a clean A-line silhouette. There’s also an oversized pink-and-blue button-down and a cropped cardigan that feel more lifestyle than gym.
What’s changed—and what hasn’t
Haney still stands by her original “doing things” philosophy. She’s never liked the word “athleisure,” and her focus is still on building a uniform for movement, not trends. But she’s more mindful now—leaning into natural materials, creating less synthetic-heavy pieces, and designing with more versatility.
Jessica Guzman now leads product design, with former OV creative director Tiffany Wilkinson also returning to ensure creative consistency. The goal is to maintain the DNA of OV, but evolve it to reflect how people dress today—less polished, more expressive, and more functional.
A new playbook for launch
Haney has also evolved her approach to launching. Gone are the VC-heavy DTC days and over-reliance on Instagram ads. Instead, Outdoor Voices will relaunch through TYB (Try Your Best), the community-powered platform Haney launched in 2022. TYB gives users early access to products, rewards for engagement, and a space to directly influence brand decisions.
OV’s new collection goes live to the public on August 5, but TYB members will get early access starting August 4. Haney’s other brand, Joggy, already lives on TYB, along with Glossier, Rare Beauty, and Poppi. It’s a more sustainable and collaborative way to grow, and it’s rooted in Haney’s belief that community is the key to longevity.
Eyes on the long game
When Haney left OV, the brand was doing close to $90 million in annual sales. Now, she’s hoping to surpass that in the next 12–18 months—but her focus is less about chasing numbers and more about building something that lasts.
She’s clear this time around: ownership was non-negotiable. Having full transparency, long-term alignment, and real equity in the brand she started was a priority—and one of the reasons she decided to return.
Lessons from the fallout
Haney doesn’t sugarcoat the past. While she says she’s “grateful” for her first chapter at OV, she also acknowledges how hard it was. Like many women founders of that DTC wave, she was caught in a storm of expectations, scrutiny, and burnout. She’s not interested in revenge—but she is interested in rewriting the playbook.
“I don’t think that era of takedowns was good for women who wanted to be founders,” she says. “So I hope this can be a model to show what’s possible.”
The next Patagonia?
These days, Haney splits her time between San Francisco and Boulder, Colorado. She’s imagining Outdoor Voices as a modern, community-driven take on Patagonia—more grounded, more focused, and with deeper brand loyalty.
With retail doors closed (for now) and strategic collabs in the works for spring, the next chapter of Outdoor Voices is shaping up to be less about hype and more about substance. Ty Haney isn’t just making a return—she’s reclaiming the narrative.
