A Note From Willy

And she's honest about her sustainability, she doesn't paint eco-friendly and green consciousness labeling across her brand— because she doesn't have to. The entrepreneur is honest about her practices and what she's able to do and what she can improve on since starting as a sustainable company, instead of converting over to one.

Sporty and Rich was born in 2014, and opened as a reference of inspiration for life through a collection of images from past and present that depict a life surrounded by beauty. Most famously, Emily appreciates imagery of Princess Diana and her style, French cashmere sweaters, tennis culture, vintage cars, and archived magazine spreads. It quickly grew into a print magazine, and now its contemporary form as a lifestyle and clothing brand. One thing Oberg does well is keep it simple. Her designs emphasize longevity over momentary relevance and play on classic styles and silhouettes that have been loved since the beginning of time and have stuck. With an ethos of, ‘Be nice, drink water, be good to the planet, take care of yourself and live a life of pleasure.’ it is imperative that Emily's legacy sticks around for the health and wellness of fashion.

We caught up with the owner of the brand to discuss the future and ethics of Sporty and Rich.
 

You've always been really big on physical health, but how do you maintain mental health? Because I think that's equally as important. What are your routines and how do you check in with yourself?

I'm a big proponent of therapy, I think everyone should have a therapist. I feel like everyone in New York does have a therapist — or multiple. I think therapy is really good just because having an outside perspective on your problems and just talking through things really helps. I also read a lot of books on positivity and how to navigate our society and I think those really help too. I feel like you kind of have to study how to be happy now, because it's so hard with everything that we have, like social media and pressure and comparing yourself career-wise or within your personal life. You have to really dedicate yourself to it. It's like working out. Your body's not going to improve if you don't go to the gym, just like your mind and your mental state won't improve if you don't really dedicate time to it. So I feel like books, therapy, definitely podcasts [help]. And just unplugging. I used to work a lot when I lived in New York. There's a lot of burning out and I feel like people kind of crave and romanticize that kind of life. I know that's the fashion way.

It's very American.

Yeah, definitely. But I think that's why it's nice to also have a Paris team because there's more balance and we don't work in this crazy way. It's never yelling at anyone or texting in the evening or on weekends. We don't do that. I'm the boss, so I can set that company culture so it's not that way, because I've had jobs like that and it's a nightmare. So it's all of those things. But I don't think a lot of people think it's that important, so they don't do it. But, to me, it's probably the most important thing you can do.

You mentioned reading books, what's the last book you read?

There's one called "The Mastery of Self." It was a series there's one about the mastery of love too. They all kind of talk about how to preserve your sense of self in the world and not letting certain situations or tragedy change who you are. They're about maintaining your happiness.

We have one thing in common, that I know of. I'm the biggest Sade fan of all time. So what is your favorite Sade song?

Probably "Paradise." I love that one.

Mine is "Maureen." I feel like it's really underrated. When it comes to Sporty and Rich, how do you cultivate your community? What made you want to start the newsletter?

I definitely think people like interacting. But it's hard; you can't respond to every DM or every comment or message, so I feel like the newsletter was a way for me to interact. I saw what people were wanting and what products they were using. Like, 'What do you like or where you buy this?' So I incorporated that with a journal diary entry, because people liked when I wrote for the Wellness Club, [though] I don't really write for it as much anymore. That's also why I also started the newsletter and I really like to write. It's a way I can communicate with everyone at once.

You also used to do a print magazine, are you still doing that now? How are you incorporating the digital aspects into the print?

I stopped the magazine a few years ago but I've been working on a book.

Like a coffee table book?

Yeah. I'm hoping for January, but that'll only be print.

What will that entail?

It's a health and wellness coffee table book with photos to go along with that and chapters on skin, digestion, working out, and all of the things that I love.

I think you have a guide on how to improve your gut — you're really big on that, right? Can you give me some tips?

What you're not getting through food, you need to get through vitamins. For gut, everyone's different, but a big problem is raw vegetables are really hard to digest and really, really hard on your stomach. Personally, I find in a lot of people that I've talked to, it's better if it's cooked. So I would avoid raw as much as you can.

I thought it was the opposite because I thought when you cook vegetables that it cooks all the nutrients out of it?

So that's if you over cook it to a certain point. A quick steam or roasting vegetables is really good. But raw, it's just hard because plants naturally have these chemicals that they use as a defense mechanism for animals. So when animals eat them, they're going to get sick. Kale is the worst one. When I eat kale, my stomach kills me.

What would you say are three easy ways to check in with your gut? Because I know it does affect your mental health as well.

Totally. I would say make sure you're going to the bathroom at least once a day. That's number one. Then I would say that most skin issues are directly related to the gut, so I feel like those are two defining factors for sure. Also with depression, obviously that's a chemical imbalance for some people, or situational, but I feel like a lot of depression is caused because people are not eating well or they are drinking too much.

I should look into that. I know there's certain cleanses you can do as well.

I've done a few — bone broth is amazing and even taking probiotics.

So you have a lot of these philosophies on life. What are they and how do they directly impact Sporty and Rich?

I would say the most important thing for me is to just focus on your happiness and overall quality of life and lifestyle. For Sporty and Rich, I kind of manifested that lifestyle for myself. It started as a mood board; I posted photos of things that I loved, or my dream life, or places I wanted to go. And for me, balance is a big part of it. I don't work crazy —I feel like when I say that people think I'm not a hard worker, but it just means that I'm not slaving away and I'm not trying to get to a place to prove anything to myself or other people. I'm just doing it because it makes me happy and I'll do it for as long as it makes me feel that way. I feel that everything you do has to bring you some joy in your life, otherwise there's no point in doing it. There are a lot of people who do things because it makes them a lot of money or because they think that's what people want them to do, but that's not a successful life to me.

Yeah, and a lot of those people are usually very soulless and have nothing to talk about except for work. So when it comes to your Wellness Club and having that print on the Sporty and Rich sweatshirts, where did that inspiration come from? Because I know you're into the 80s and the 90s and Princess Diana.

I think for a while I was trying to figure out what Sporty and Rich was and what the bigger story or bigger picture could be, besides just making clothes. It was a time where I was really starting to get into health and wellness and I thought it should be based around health. There aren't any brands really pushing health in that way, unless it's more blatant like Lululemon or something. But that feels kind of lame or for moms in a way. There wasn't really a brand pushing health for young, cool people who like all the things that we like, you know? So I feel like it's just my way of combining my two passions and promoting something positive that everyone can benefit from.

And will that show in the physical realm, like are you going to start doing Sporty and Rich yoga classes or tennis? I think that'd be so fun.

I really want to open a Sporty and Rich Country Club in LA with tennis courts and gyms and all of that. But that's my end goal — we'll see.

I just finished doing a row of traveling and I feel so lost within myself, so I'm trying to regroup little pieces of myself. You travel a lot as well, so how do you check in with yourself while you're traveling, whether that's bringing your favorite toner or products?

For work I do travel quite a bit. I always like to listen to positivity podcasts and always remind myself of certain things. I feel like sometimes we get in the mode of, 'Oh, this is annoying.' But I remember when I dreamed to be able to do this. I'm so happy and grateful for it. So just stuff like that, but there's nothing physical. I feel like I could travel with a toothbrush and be fine. I'm super low maintenance.

How can we make our everyday a little bit more sustainable — because I know that Sporty and Rich is very sustainable. You guys work within your own factory and you talk about that on Instagram a lot.

I think that the way we live our daily lives is a big part of it. So eating — if you're going to eat meat, there's a sustainable way to do it. I eat from local farms in California. It's about knowing where your products are coming from,I feel like [that] is really important and supporting businesses who operate in like a sustainable way too. But that's with any products that you have — skincare, your clothes, your food, but especially food, because I feel like that's the thing we consume the most. Making sure that wherever you're buying it — it's ethically sourced and it's all humanely raised. I think doing little things, like just unplugging appliances when you're not using it, not leaving the water running, or not using all of the lights in your house. Just little things that we do all the time, but it adds up and I don't think people realize that it's the small things that will make a big difference over time.

For people who want to make their own brands or their own Sporty and Rich, what would you say would be the biggest sustainability practice that they should look into?

Well, even though we try to have sustainability efforts, I think if you really care about sustainability, you're not going to start a brand. I'm passionate about the environment, but it's not my number one passion because if it was, then I would be working with a charity or an organization that works to do that. So if you care about the environment, don't start a brand because you are producing things. No matter what, even if it's recycled, there's still energy going into making that. But I would say giving back to organizations that do work to protect the environment and then also just not making a ton of product and only making what you know will sell, so you don't have waste and leftover to have to deal with. We plant trees for all of our orders. That's such a small thing that literally any brand can do, but over time it adds up. We have hundreds of thousands of trees now and it's kind of amazing. And using recycled materials where you can in the packaging and the clothes and the tags, labels, and everything. Those things are super easy. So I feel like it's not even an option, I just feel like you have to do it.

With any brand there's always going to be critiques on it and on its' sustainability practices. So what is the biggest critique you get and how are you making change towards that?

I would say the fact that we still make some of our items in China and overseas because there's certain things that we just can't get made here. Like a water bottle, for example. There's not a lot of American factories that make products like that. So I think for me, it's slowly getting rid of those types of items and more so focusing on more quality items versus quantity and shifting away from little things that are made overseas. We do a lot in Europe now.

What is the future of Sporty and Rich? I saw you were coming out with jewelry, but what else are you looking at doing?

Definitely more outerwear, swimwear, more product categories in general, like coats, knitwear, stuff like that. Then the book, and then hopefully one day, my country club for young people.

I saw that you guys are expanding to SSENSE and other retailers. What is that like and what made you want to do that? Because I know you like having ownership over the brand.

Wholesale was kind of a natural progression for the business and my CEO, who's my business partner. He's really good at sales and he's had a few brands and he's done really well in the wholesale side of things. So when he came on, he took that initiative and really grew us in wholesale. And it's also like a good way for people to discover your brand. Like in Moscow, how are they going to know what Sporty and Rich is unless you're in a store there?

You guys ship internationally right?

Yeah, we ship everywhere. But we have a good amount of wholesale now and we make sure we work with the best stores and the best partners.

It's Emily Oberg's world. What are the rules? What does it look like? What's going on? What are some of the laws?

For rules, I would say no littering. I would say being nice to everyone. I would say drink four liters of water a day is a rule— well, it's a strong suggestion. Do only what brings you joy, without harming anyone else. Also, sleep a lot and only buy what you need. In my world, I think there would be no Instagram also. No social media — no internet would be great. I think in my world it would just be like the sixties, in some ways. But yeah, all of this stress and pressure from the internet, I feel like it's done so much harm more than good.