Sweaty Betty

Sweaty Betty is a British retailer specialising in women's activewear, founded by Tamara and Simon Hill-Norton.^[1] It has over 50 boutiques in the United Kingdom, six boutiques in the United States and concessions in department stores Harrods and Bloomingdale's. In August 2021, Sweaty Betty was bought by American apparel manufacturer Wolverine Worldwide. ^[2]

Sweaty Betty

Industry	Retail
Founded	1998 (1998)
Headquarters	London, England
Key people	Tamara Hill-Norton (founder) Simon Hill-Norton (founder) Julia Straus (CEO)
Products	Clothing Sportswear Sports equipment
Parent	Wolverine World Wide
Website	sweatybetty.com

History

Sweaty Betty was founded in 1998 by Tamara and Simon Hill-Norton with one boutique in London's Notting Hill. The brand was named after a song of the same name by British band the Macc Lads. By 2003, the company had expanded to five boutiques. In 2006, Sweaty Betty opened their first concession in Selfridges and now feature in the in-store Body Studio – this was later followed by one in Harrods.^[3]

As of 2016^[update], there were over 40 Sweaty Betty boutiques around the UK, 6 in the US and 4 department store concessions as well as a British and American online store.^{[citation needed]}

In 2019, Sweaty Betty's website was targeted by cyber-criminals, who inserted malicious code into its eCommerce website to capture customer card details during the checkout process.^[4]

In August 2021, Sweaty Betty was bought by publicly traded American apparel manufacturer Wolverine Worldwide for £300 million. ^[2]

As of May 2022^[update], there are 47 Sweaty Betty boutiques and 14 department store concessions in the UK. There are also 49 department store concessions in the U.S., and 17 boutiques and department store concessions in Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, and Singapore. There are also online stores for the British and American markets.^[5]

Controversy

In November 2025, Sweaty Betty faced public criticism after personal trainer Georgina Cox accused the company of using her slogan “Wear the Damn Shorts” without permission.^[6] Cox stated that she had been using the phrase since 2020 in social media posts promoting body confidence. She previously collaborated with the company in 2023, receiving payment to promote one of its campaigns, but said she was not consulted or compensated when the brand later launched a new campaign using the slogan.^[6]

Cox sent a legal letter requesting that Sweaty Betty stop using the phrase, and after publicly raising her concerns, she said the company threatened her with defamation action.^[6] According to Cox, the company then offered her £4,000 in exchange for permission to continue using the slogan and for her agreement not to make any further public statements about the dispute, an offer she refused.^[6]

Sweaty Betty told the BBC that the slogan had featured in its marketing campaigns for several years and that “no one, including Ms Cox, has sole rights” to the phrase.^[6]

Awards

In 2001, Sweaty Betty was named Sports Industries Federation "sports retailer of the year".^[7]

In 2015, Sweaty Betty won an award for "Healthiest Employees" as part of Vitality Health Insurances' Britain's Healthiest Workplace Awards.^[8]