CALIA by Carrie Underwood opened one of its first three pop-up retail stores on Wednesday in Nashville, a location Underwood said is more than fitting for her women’s activewear brand.
“Nashville is my home,” Underwood, the brand’s lead designer, said.
CALIA, a collaboration with Dick’s Sporting Goods, launched its first collection in 2015 and is offered in Dick’s Sporting Goods stores throughout the country. This fall, CALIA’s team rolled out brand-specific pop-up shops in Nashville, Austin, and Santa Monica in celebration of the brand’s fifth anniversary. The retail locations will be open from Oct. 28 through Dec. 31.
The announcement comes after a successful awards season for Underwood, who brought home her 21st and 22nd CMT Music Awards for Female Video and Video of the Year on Oct. 21, and won her third ACM Entertainer of the Year Award in September. Underwood is also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year in the upcoming CMA Awards to be announced Nov. 11.
CALIA is Underwood’s answer to a gap she saw in fashionable yet practical workout clothes for women, according to the company’s website. She said the brand has built a strong fan base in Nashville, Austin and Santa Monica, and the pop-up shops extend the fun and provide a physical debut of CALIA’s recently-released fall and winter collection.
“I kind of wanted to make it a bit easier for people to shop and create a fun space for them to come and see what we’ve got going on,” Underwood said. “I will probably be visiting the (Nashville) pop-up shop at some point myself, just because it’s fun.”
Unlike Austin and Santa Monica’s stationary stores, Nashville’s pop-up location will take a mobile approach, starting at The Mall at Green Hills and moving through other Music City hot spots to visit several of Nashville’s “many cool places,” Underwood said.
Future Nashville locations have yet to be announced. Customers can contact the Nashville store at (615) 988-4553 for store hours. All CALIA pop-up stores will undergo deep cleaning daily, and customers and employees are required to wear masks and practice social distancing.
CALIA products also remain available at Dick’s Sporting Goods stores, dicks.com, and calia.com.Fall and winter collection
Fall and winter collection
“This year, it’s all about the textures,” Underwood said. “When you think of fall, to me, you just think about crunchy leaves, and you think about soft outer layers.”
With more people seeking outdoor activities this year in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Underwood said CALIA paid close attention to details, like jackets that zip several inches up to protect the neck for warmth and pockets for moms like herself to carry phones and essentials hands-free while on the go with their children.
“People are getting out and they’re exploring parks and things like that,” Underwood said. “They’re getting their kids out … that’s one thing I learned throughout this whole year. It’s like, ‘What am I going to do with my kids? Let’s go outside.’
This season’s collection focuses on soft materials for bundling up, in addition to textural elements. Underwood pointed to the lime-hued CALIA Everyday Knit Quilted Shell Jacket she wore as an example of the brand’s textures for fall and winter.
The collection and the introduction of CALIA’s pop-up stores are just a few of Underwood’s achievements during what has been a tumultuous year.
Underwood released her New York Times best-selling book, “Find Your Path,” in March, in addition to her fitness app, fit52. Her first Christmas album, “My Gift,” debuted in late September, topping the Billboard Country, Christian and Holiday charts in its first week.
She said 2020 has been a year of defining her goals and finding new ways to achieve them during the pandemic, usually with a little help from Zoom for CALIA’s design approval meetings and other projects.
“Whatever it is in life, you figure out what your goals are, and then you’ve got to figure out how to get there,” Underwood said. “That’s what this year has been all about, and that’s what I love about so many things that I do. Our motto with CALIA is ‘Stay the Path’ … you might have to bob and weave a little bit, but just always figure out how to keep moving forward and accomplish your goals.”
WATCH Carrie Underwood Surprises CALIA Shoppers VIDEO BELOW:
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