Nike flexes with new yoga line

Nike is promoting its new apparel collection created specifically for yoga by having professional athletes describe how their yoga practice helps them gain a competitive edge. 

WNBA Player Alana Beard said in a Nike (NYSE:NKE) release that yoga has improved how she plays defense because of the hip mobility and flexibility she gained practicing the triangle pose.

U.S. Paralympian and track and field athlete Scout Bassett said the flexibility and core strength she developed from yoga has helped improve her sprinting and long jump. 

The new line's women's apparel features open-weave crochet stitching along the sides to allow for air flow and a high-neck on the tank top provides coverage during yoga moves like inversions and forward folds.

Along with the yoga apparel, the company will debut a new collection of yoga workouts on the Nike Training Club app this month.The “Enhance Your Training with Yoga” Collection targets specific performance goals such as strength and stability, endurance and flexibility.

"At Nike, we're dedicated to giving athletes every edge we can, and we know yoga is essential to reaching another level of athletic performance and mental strength," Jamie Jeffries, vice president and general manager of Nike Training, told Retail Dive. 

She said the company sees “a big opportunity to innovate in this space,” including launching Nike's first yoga-specific apparel for men, a niche where competitor Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) has excelled.

Men made up 30 percent of Lululemon's new customers during the first quarter of 2018, per The Motley Fool, more than the number of new women customers. And in October, GAP Inc. (NYSE:GPS) went after the market as well, launching a high-end athleisure wear line for men called Hill City, with products including $98 running pants and sold online and at 50 of its Athleta stores, per Business Insider. 

Nike's board of directors is facing a lawsuit in which plaintiffs allege the company's directors didn't do enough to protect investors from the damage caused by widespread sexual harassment and discrimination claims, but Nike's lawyers Tuesday filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, describing it as "contorted," "nonsensical" and "illogical," the Portland Business Journal reported.

In a related request to delay discovery, Nike's lawyers said the motion to dismiss is "highly likely to succeed."