Jun 28, 2026 · 13 min · 7 segments
In today's FittBite, we explore the hidden cost of copying successful activewear brands too closely. This FittBite shows how familiar visuals, neutral palettes, similar product ranges, and borrowed…
Shadi AdadaHost
For a startup active brand, copying an existing successful brand may seem like a shortcut, but for an active brand, it can put your brand dead in the water before you even get the chance to succeed.
Although it may seem like a shortcut, there's a hidden cost to copying a successful brand and just simply slapping your name or your logo on a similar type of strategy.
This is the tax that happens when you emulate and you copy what another brand is doing.
Perhaps you see their visuals, you see their product, you see the fabrics that they're picking, the website, they see the entire collection, the messaging, and you think to yourself that the fastest way to succeed is to do what's already been done.
The challenge is that when people are now looking at your product, you don't only borrow the strategy of the brand that you're copying, you also borrow their comparison.
When you look too similar to an existing brand that's already on the market, a customer is no longer just looking at your product in isolation.
they're comparing you to a brand that they already know and for a new activewear brand that hasn't been able to carve out its own identity that can be a very dangerous place to start so on today's episode we'll be looking at the hidden cost of the copycat tax and how you could avoid this as a startup activewear brand and what you should do instead So without further ado, my name is Shadi Adada.
I'm the co-founder and creative director of FitDesign, the world's first sportswear design agency.
And over the last 10 years, I've helped literally thousands of brands to go from an idea to a physical product in under 30 days.
And I've learned the repetitive patterns of failure that activewear brands that copy existing brands will fall into.
So I'm going to give you guys the number one way to avoid it and what you should do instead.
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For a startup active brand, copying an existing successful brand may seem like a shortcut, but for an active brand, it can put your brand dead in the water before you even get the chance to succeed.
Although it may seem like a shortcut, there's a hidden cost to copying a successful brand and just simply slapping your name or your logo on a similar type of strategy.
This is the tax that happens when you emulate and you copy what another brand is doing.
Perhaps you see their visuals, you see their product, you see the fabrics that they're picking, the website, they see the entire collection, the messaging, and you think to yourself that the fastest way to succeed is to do what's already been done.
The challenge is that when people are now looking at your product, you don't only borrow the strategy of the brand that you're copying, you also borrow their comparison.
When you look too similar to an existing brand that's already on the market, a customer is no longer just looking at your product in isolation.
they're comparing you to a brand that they already know and for a new activewear brand that hasn't been able to carve out its own identity that can be a very dangerous place to start so on today's episode we'll be looking at the hidden cost of the copycat tax and how you could avoid this as a startup activewear brand and what you should do instead So without further ado, my name is Shadi Adada.
I'm the co-founder and creative director of FitDesign, the world's first sportswear design agency.
And over the last 10 years, I've helped literally thousands of brands to go from an idea to a physical product in under 30 days.
And I've learned the repetitive patterns of failure that activewear brands that copy existing brands will fall into.
So I'm going to give you guys the number one way to avoid it and what you should do instead.
