Jennifer Sey – 1986 National Gymnastics Champion and former Levi’s Brand President – launches her own athletic apparel brand: XX-XY Athletics
MARCH 25, 2024 – DENVER, COLORADO
An apparel industry leader known for her creativity, courage and cultural acuity, Jennifer Sey is combining her experience as an elite athlete, seasoned brand executive and brave truth teller to start her own brand. It’s called XX-XY Athletics.
The brand is focused on delivering best in class premium casual athletic clothing and the first release is centered around casual cotton basics including t-shirts, joggers and shorts, fleece sweatshirts and graphic tees. A quick follow up second release will be rooted in performance fabrics and includes leggings, bike shorts, tees and tanks for women as well as tees, shorts and layering pieces for men. While the emphasis of the collection is on women’s apparel for working out and casual activities, a focused men’s collection complements the women’s assortment.
With brand messaging focused on being brave, telling the truth, and protecting women’s sports, it’s the storytelling that will really set XX-XY Athletics apart. And as an award-winning Chief Marketing Officer for Levi’s – one of the world’s most iconic brands, Sey has the brand know-how to make it happen.
Launching during Women’s History Month, XX-XY Athletics is now available for sale at XX-XYAthletics.com.
The founder and CEO – Jennifer Sey – has a long history as an elite level athlete defending women’s and girls’ safety in sports. And she is combining that with her deep fashion and brand building expertise to address a hole in the marketplace.
“Throughout my life I’ve risked my reputation and standing in my community to stand up for children, women and free speech. XX-XY Athletics is the culmination of everything I’ve ever done in my life,” said Sey, a committed and successful former athlete who has first-hand experience of the positive impact of sports on a young person’s life. She also has first-hand experience of how harrowing it can be to challenge false narratives. But she insists, it must be done.
“Twice in my life I’ve challenged the orthodoxies of the day. First in 2008, with my book ‘Chalked Up,’ which was the first first-person account to reveal the emotional, physical and sexual abuse rampant in the sport of gymnastics and the Olympic movement overall. Then again in 2020, when I advocated for open schools during covid,” said Sey. “It can be scary to stand up and do the right thing, to speak an unpopular truth. But the alternative is even scarier. Because then we live in lies.”
Sey believes that more than ever people want brands that stand for something and align with their values. And the vast majority of Americans believe in fairness, safety and equal opportunity in women’s sports and spaces. And yet, no athletic or fitness brand that claims to celebrate women has taken a stand to protect women’s sports. XX-XY Athletics is not afraid to speak truth and defend girls and women’s spaces, and the right to a fair and equal playing field in sports.
“World class brands drive and inform the culture. Right now, there are no brands that give consumers the opportunity to weigh in on this subject. Women across the country are whispering in their kitchens about how crazy this is. If we give them a way to say I stand with women and girls, I believe they’ll take it and join us. Because they’ll know they won’t stand alone,” said Sey.
XX-XY Athletics in Action
XX-XY Athletics is launching during Women’s History Month, at a time when elite women athletes face losing the protections afforded them from Title IX and Big Sport has failed them. Furthermore, uncertainty regarding the safeguarding of women’s sports will create significant conflict heading into the summer Olympic games this year.
Since the passage of Title IX in 1972, women have been afforded an equal opportunity to compete in sports and benefit from the developmental, physical, emotional and educational opportunities that come with that. Still, women have experienced abuse, bias and an overall lack of respect as athletes. The latest example of that is redefining women’s sports as being for anyone who identifies as a woman, including trans identified male athletes. This is justified under the false assertion that male bodied athletes do not have physical advantages over girls and women. Yet, the single biggest determinant of athletic performance is sex. It simply isn’t fair, or safe, to have males competing in the women’s and girls’ categories.
Now is the time to stand up for women athletes and bring back the passion of athletics. XX-XY Athletics hopes to inspire a movement of bravery, so that those who see the unfairness at play will stand up and defend women’s sports with us. “If we inspire the silent majority to stand up, and we do it together, we can’t lose,” said Sey.
Back to Business
XX-XY Athletics is meeting the demand and growth potential for a casual athletic apparel brand for Americans from all walks of life, who value fairness and equal opportunity for women and are ready to speak the truth. “This is not about politics,” says Sey. “This is about acknowledging biological realities. This is about truth and fairness for women.”
And while the brand takes its mission seriously, it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
“We want to create a corporate culture that is fun, values viewpoint diversity and open debate, which, when combined, offer a pathway to innovation and a stronger bottom line,” said Sey.
“More often than not, companies that take values driven stances do so for show. ‘Woke Capitalism’ is virtue signaling to curry favor with consumers but at the end of the day, there’s nothing true or authentic about it. Ultimately, it’s a money-making strategy.
“At XX-XY Athletics we put business fundamentals first and we’re honest about that. At the same time, we are fully committed to our mission of speaking truth and standing up for women’s sports,” continued Sey. “World class brands aren’t just responding to culture; they are influencing it. That’s our goal.”
Joining her in launching the brand are notable brave truth tellers including:
Riley Gaines, 12x All-American in swimming, 5x SEC Champion, 2x Olympic trial qualifier, 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Nominee.
Paula Scanlan, former NCAA Division I University of Pennsylvania swimmer and defender of free speech.
Chloe Cole, “detransitioner” and children’s advocate, Cole stopped all treatments to make her appear more masculine at 16 and faces health complications due to her double mastectomy and the experimental drugs she was prescribed.
Adam B. Coleman, author of “Black Victim to Black Victor,” Speaking Wrong at the Right Time and founder of Wrong Speak Publishing.
Dr. Tabia Lee, co‐ Founder of Free Black Thought and advocate for viewpoint diversity.
"Elite athletes look around and no one in Big Sport has our back,” said Gaines. “Without pressure from athlete advocates and truth-tellers like Jennifer, sport governing bodies and government leaders will continue their culture of negligence towards women. But courage is contagious. It’s time to stand up for women and wear the truth; it feels great.”
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BIO:
Jennifer Sey is an American author, filmmaker, business executive, and retired artistic gymnast. She was a seven-time member of the U.S. Women's National Team and was the 1986 U.S. Women's All-Around National Champion. Her first memoir, “Chalked Up,” was released in 2008 and detailed abuse in the sport of gymnastics. Sey also produced the 2020 Emmy-award winning documentary film, “Athlete A” on Netflix, which connected the crimes of Larry Nassar to the broader abuses in the Olympic movement.
Sey began working at Levi Strauss & Co. in 1999, rising to chief marketing officer and then Brand President. She was named one of Billboard’s Most Powerful People in Music and Fashion in 2016 and was twice named to Forbes’ Most Influential CMO list in 2019 and 2020.
Starting in 2020, she risked her reputation, community and friendships to speak up against the harm being done to children due to the extended closure of San Francisco’s public schools.
She resigned from Levi’s in 2022 and has been focused on her own writing and filmmaking projects. She has a documentary film in post-production called “Generation Covid” about the harms to children from prolonged school closures. And now she is now starting her own brand, XX-XY Athletics. She is a mother of four and lives in Denver with her family.
