PRACTICAL LUXURY | TIFFANY ZHOU

When it comes to our bags, we want something that works with our lifestyle and allows us to go from one place to the next. We love having elements on our bags that make our day that much easier.

We sat down with Founder and Creative Dir. of luxury handbag brand, OLEADA, Tiffany Zhou to talk about how she engineered these bags, the power of putting our products that mean something to those who wear it, and more!

ATHLEISURE MAG: Prior to becoming the Founder and Creative Designer for OLEADA, you worked in finance. What led you to design?

TIFFANY ZHOU: I definitely want to start something by myself. I wanted to be reasonable and rational about my decision because I do have another lens that understands the business from an investor perspective. I think as a female founder, we do have a natural instinct about how to build up a brand and how to resonate with a client. That’s why when I started, I compiled information and felt that doing a consumer product and onw that contributed back to where I was from as a professional woman.

In thinking about this I have a personal story. One of the moments that makes me think about why I went out on my own and started this business was over hearing my manager who was talking to my boss. I had just finished a nice financial model for a lease code that we were going to acquire. He said that I had done a great job, but that I was just a 28 year old girl. That let me rethink about who I was going to be and how I would be in the financial industry. I then reviewed myself and realized what I would have to do to get to where my male counterparts were who were my teammates. So I thought, why not put it into myself?

AM: Coming into this industry from finance, but being trained as an engineer, how did the engineering aspect inform how you went about designing these bags?

TZ: I don’t design the bags, I engineer them! I really lean into engineering when it comes to product design – which is called design thinking. When I am working on them, I’m trying to solve the real world problems, analyze what is being required in the marketplace, and to do prototypes that all the stakeholders – not just the design team, but customer service, and other members. Once you have created a prototype, you launch it to your base to get that feedback and you use what you learned to inform that design. That is what we are doing at OLEADA.

The Wavia Bag was my first design that I launched 6 years ago. When you look at the first bag that was designed, you can see how it evolved to be the bag that we have on the shelf now. There were so many details that were upgraded – the panel, cutting, etc. We had more than 25 small upgrades – the handle and its length or should another pocket be added to the back? So that is why I feel that I don’t design, I engineer these bags.

AM: What would you say is the ethos of the brand?

TZ: So when I started the brand, my last job was a banker, I was a professional woman. So that’s why the brand that I built up is a work style brand.

AM: Right.

TZ: I call it a work style in a way. It is for work, but it’s also stylish so that you can conquer your day, enter into the room, and feel confident. That feeling and sentiment is emphasized through our brand ambassadors, influencers, and our social media. As time went on, I started to realize that our life is more than work.

What is next? That is where AnyWear came from. It’s like, OLEADA. The work style is how you represent yourself in the room, then AnyWear is helping you to move in between the rooms. This part of the brand is an experience in this work/life aesthetic. Once you leave work, you go to the tennis court or maybe you go to the gym. It’s the combination of that kind of functionality we really want to offer to this market.

AM: What is your process when it comes to creating new styles and deciding about colorways, whether they’re your core colorways or new hues?

TZ: I like to reverse engineer everything. Most handbag designers when they are creating a bag, they may focus on a category such as a tote bag or a backpack.

I start from the experience. I think about people who are leaving their apartment, when they are getting back, and what happens in between. When you look at AnyWear, I am looking at someone who has a portfolio career. They are going out, going to a coffee shop,meeting a client, playing tennis, etc.

So in my design process, I am watching people. You learn a lot when you people watch. You see them and how they interact with the world.

AM: in terms of work bags, what would be 3 that you suggest should be in our collections?

TZ: I definitely love a tote because it’s so easy to use! Our Marina Tote that we just launched this year is very easy to carry and is an easy going bag.If you travel a lot, I would definitely suggest the Marina Carryall. You can wear it as a backpack.

AM: Seeing AnyWhere at the Accessory Council event and then again at your brunch at The Ned, it’s a great series of items that is travel and active lifestyle. When did you realize that you wanted to bring this portion of the brand forward?

TZ: I liked the concept that with these bags, you could go anywhere in order to have experiences that are within your life outside of work.

AM: What are 3 AnyWear bags that we should have on our radar?

TZ: I do love the Tennis Backpack. It’s not just a tennis bag, but for those that are hitting the tennis court, you don’t need to carry multiple bags – this allows it all to be in one! The Any Duffle is also an interesting item. The fabric is crease-free so when you are not using it, you can fold it into your suitcase. Once you get to your location, you can use it to go shopping and the bag can expand.

AM: There has been a lot of talk about quiet luxury. In preparation for speaking to you, I know that you believe in the concept of practical luxury. Can you talk about this concept and how it works within your brand’s ecosystem?

TZ: I actually think the new luxury is utility. It’s a functionality. Whatever works for you should be something you should cherish. That is where we want to be no matter if we are talking about OLEADA or AnyWear. I want people to have this type of feeling when they open the bag! Those who wear it didn’t realize that they needed this pocket or a strap.

It is important to me that our bags are engineered to be functional. They can carry your devices and the bags have great craftsmanship.

AM: You’re currently finalizing your showroom in NoMad and it’s one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city. There is an energy in this area, a number of amazing eateries, fitness studios etc. Why did you opt to be here as opposed to the West Village or Tribeca?

TZ: Like you said, I really love the energy of NoMad and I think it is really good for OLEADA. The brand really stands for someone who appreciates good quality, but also needs a number of aesthetics. I love that NoMad has a lot of artists, builders, and professionals which is literally our audience. Being on the street and as much as I love people watching, I feel that I can see what is trending and it’s a great way for me to keep inspired!

AM: Since I connected with your brand, you have done a number of events during the Spring/Summer here in the city, trunk shows, and being in the Hamptons.

Are there any upcoming events that you would like our readers to know about?

TZ: We collabed with this amazing non-profit organization called RaiseFashion. I think you know about that. And they are doing a full-day trunk show open to the public on the 11th of September during NYFW. I’d love to send an invitation to all the readers if you want to check out the products and experience OLEADA.

So we are building our studio and we have a TikTok series about creating a New York City fashion studio from scratch. Hopefully, I can get it done by the end of September and we can open it to the public by appointment in October. We’re looking at doing a panel event or something for the holidays.

IG @oleada_official

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT | OLEADA

Read the AUG ISSUE #128 of Athleisure Mag and see PRACTICAL LUXURY | Tiffany Zhou in mag.

ATHLEISURE MAG AUG ISSUE #128 | PAUL GEORGE

In this month’s issue, our front and back cover story is with 9X NBA All-Star, 6X Member of the All-NBA Team and 4X member of the NBA All Defensive Team - Paul George. This season, he joins the Boston Celtics. We sat down with him to talk about his love for the game, how he stays in shape, and how he overcomes injuries through rehab and recovery.

We kicked off the US Open 2026 season which runs from Aug 23rd - Sep 6th. We give you a bit of sights and sounds on a number of amazing global tennis talents that we will see throughout the next few weeks.

We caught up with Nicholas Pinnock who plays Kingsley Marshall in STARZ’s Fightland! We talk with him about how he connects to his creators, his creative process, and why he wanted to be in this powerful show!

We attended the 2nd to the last LIV Golf tournament here in NY where we saw our cover from earlier this year, Dustin Johnson of 4Aces, as well as a host of other top golfers from Jon Rahm, Bubba Watson and so much more!

Our Staycation in August took place at the Hotel Seville NoMad which allowed us to be in the heart of the city while feeling European vibes throughout our stay. We share more about this hotel that just completed rennovations on this Unbound Collection Hyatt property.

Rockstar Energy Open held its 3rd Annual skateboarding festival with top skateboarders around the world competing! In addition, this year they had a number of bands that performed to keep the good vibes going!

We sat down with Lakey Peterson as she is in the middle of her WSL Tournament season to find out about the love of this sport, how she trains, recovers, and hydrates! We also talk about how she gives back by supporting and cleaning our oceans.

We made our way to Nike HQ in NYC to try out the brand’s latest sneaker, Hybrid RN. In addition we trained alongside Elite Nike and Hyrox athlete, Dylan Scott. He also sat with us to talk about this sport and how he got into it.

We took sometime to talk with Trish Dalton, filmmaker of Reggae Girlz which is a film about the Women’s Jamaican Football Team. We follow their journey from playing for their country to making their way to the FIFA World Cup. We also interviewed Cedella Marley who talked about her involvement with the women’s team, why she wanted to support them with her energy as well as financially via the Bob Marley Foundation, and more. We also talked with Den-Den Blackwood that plays for this team.

We connected with one of our favorite brands, Oleada whose Co-Founder and Creative Director, Tiffany Zhou talked with us about the line, her engineering process in making, it and what we can expect from the brand.

We sat down with Netflix’s One Piece actor, Inaki Godoy. In addition to being in this successful show, he has a passion for hot sauce. We talked with him on his recent partnership and role as C.H.I.P.

This month's Athleisure List comes from NY's Yunara Life, which is a wellness destination that ensures that we keep our bodies health at the forefront of our minds. We also made our way to TAP in NoMad where we enjoyed gluten-free Brazilian bites that are flavor forward and good for your body!

It is an honor that our enhanced 9PLAYLIST comes from Iconic So-Cal band, Red Hot Chili Peppers as they share 9PLAYLIST with us. Enneapus adds his 9PLAYLIST STORI3S vibes as he jams along on heavy repeat. Indeed it has fave gems for sure. This month’s THE 9LIST ROUTIN3S is from our NBA cover star, Paul George, Celebrity Event Planner maven Mindy Weiss, and WSL #8 ranked surfer Lakey Peterson.

Read the AUG ISSUE #128 of Athleisure Mag.

THE 9LIST X LORE BATHING CLUB

We ended the month by partnering with a recently opened bathing club here in NYC’s. Our THE 9LIST X Lore Bathing Club Event kicked off the Summer with an intimate group of our readers/community to enjoy the services/amenities at this wellness destination to enjoy saunas, red light therapy, and cold plunges. In addition to our attendees enjoying a 75 minute session, we also gifted them items that we have been loving and sharing in our issues: an Oleada AnyWear Toiletry Set, as well as an $100 gift card from this handbag brand, and a David Protein bar!

We sat down with Lore Bathing Club to find our more about this bath house, what they offer their guests, and more!

ATHLEISURE MAG: We had the pleasure of coming to Lore Bathing Club initially for an Editor event in March and loved the space and having you host our THE 9LIST Event this month was so great to share with our community ! When did you launch and what is the meaning behind the name, Lore?

LORE BATHING CLUB: Lore officially opened on May 11 2026 and celebrated its grand opening over May 15-17. Lore brought together design, hospitality, wellness, and community, but the core idea stayed consistent: create a place people want to return to regularly.

AM: Who are the founders of LBC and what can you tell us about their backgrounds?

LBC: Founded by James O’Reilly, an entrepreneur known for building transformative social, work, and wellness spaces, including co-founding NeueHouse and leading new concepts at Life Time, and Adam Elzer, a hospitality entrepreneur and concept developer known for creating community-driven restaurants as co-founder and former CEO of Everyday Hospitality, Lore brings a new kind of bathing experience to downtown Manhattan. James’ background building membership-driven social and wellness spaces, including NeueHouse and Life Time Work, and Adam’s experience building hospitality concepts in New York, helped shape Lore as both an experience and an operating model.

AM: You are a neighborhood bathing club. Can you tell us more about what that means and why you wanted to create this space in NoHo.

LBC: Lore is not a broad wellness facility trying to do everything. It is a focused neighborhood bathing club built around contrast therapy, atmosphere, and regular use.

NoHo made sense because it sits at the intersection of downtown work, hospitality, culture, fitness, and residential life. It is a neighborhood where people already move between different parts of their day, and Lore is designed to fit into that rhythm.

From a physical standpoint, the site needed enough space to support the full bathing experience: a large communal sauna, a generous cold plunge, an infrared sauna, and areas for arrival, transition, and recovery. The building also had to allow for a space that feels immersive and sensory, not simply functional. Materials, circulation, sound, temperature, and the transitions between hot and cold all matter.

AM: What’s the correlation between Saunas and Finnish culture? What are the health benefits in doing this?

LBC: Our approach to bathing is heavily influenced by the Finnish and Japanese bathing traditions; unfused, architecturally restrained, intergenerational and social.

The decision to promote frequent use is supported by a 2017 longitudinal study conducted in Finland, which tracked over 2,000 people for 20 years to understand the long-term benefits of consistent sauna practice.

The study found that individuals who used the sauna four times a week were significantly less likely to die from cardiovascular-related and neurodegenerative diseases, resulting in a 40% reduced risk in all-cause mortality. The practice is often viewed as the next best thing for longterm health beyond physical exercise.

AM: What can you tell us about the aesthetic of LBC?

LBC: The interiors are shaped by natural materials, sensory transitions, and an elemental atmosphere that reflects the movement between hot and cold.

Because people return often, the space also has to hold up to repetition. It needs to feel special, but not precious. It needs to support both quiet personal use and social connection.

AM: For those coming for their first time, what do we need to know in terms of what we can wear, staying hydrated, and what we need to keep in mind?

LBC: We encourage people to follow feeling rather than the clock. Maybe today it’s just putting your feet in the cold. Maybe it’s 30 seconds. Removing performance and expectation often surprises people — it takes the pressure off. What surprises them most is the shift afterward: the clarity, the calm, the sense of returning to baseline.

A typical visit runs around 75 minutes. Guests move fluidly between the large dry sauna and the cold pool room, with the infrared sauna available for those seeking something quieter and more intimate.

AM: When guests come for a 75min session, are there a series of activities that have to be done within a time period or can a person enjoy elements at various times?

LBC: We intentionally keep guidance simple and humble. If someone asks, we’ll offer suggestions, but we emphasize that there isn’t one correct way — what works for one person may not work for another.

AM: Tell us about the programming offered at LBC as you have Guided Cold Water Soak, In-Sauna Aroma Therapy, Guided Stretching, Aufguss, and Listening Moments.

LBC: Our goal with Lore was to remove the excesses of larger facilities (steam rooms, massages, IV drips) away from prescriptive guidance of more heavily programmed alternatives. By doing this we could focus on the essential elements of bathing, and do those parts better than anyone else. We are also trying to offer a bathing experience on a more frequent basis, which to us means 2-4 times per week. With that, we move from thinking of a bathhouse as an occasional indulgence (once a month or a quarter) towards being a vital part of your weekly routine.

AM: What is the Cold Pool Room?

LBC: 46-degree cold plunge.

It opens people up. After the cold, the defenses come down. Guests are more likely to chat with a stranger, compare notes on the plunge, share something small and real. Cold water exposure has a way of leveling people — for a moment, everyone in that room has just done the same hard thing together.

AM: Tell us more about the Dry & Infrared Saunas.

LBC: Lore includes a 700-square-foot dry sauna and an infrared sauna.

The larger, dry sauna is sized deliberately — spacious enough that guests have room to breathe and be with their thoughts, but intimate enough that that conversation happens naturally. Ambient music plays, giving people acoustic cover; someone can be sitting nearby without your exchange pulling them in.

The infrared sauna is available for those seeking something quieter and more intimate.

AM: What amenities are available that we can enjoy in our sessions?

LBC: Beautiful waffle weave towels, Dyson hair dryers, more personal space in the changing facility. Margin global provides all of the core amenities in the showers, and we have MONKS spray deodorant and wide variety of Herbivore Botanicals for post-shower.

AM: What is the Reception Cafe and what takes place here?

LBC: Entrance area - a space to regroup or gather thoughts before or after a session. Offering La Cabra coffee, Masha tea, some tasty bone broth or even a fresh pressed juice. We’ll have a rotating selection of grand go snack and beverages.

AM: Tell us about the memberships that are available.

LBC: Lore offers a monthly membership. Each visit is a 75-minute session (towels provided; swimwear required). Weekly or monthly memberships include one booking per day.

3 session packs and single sessions are available.

AM: Can non-members also come to LBC and if so, how much is that?

LBC: 3 session packs are available at $149 and single sessions are available at $55/$25 (Peak/Off-Peak).

AM: Are there any special events coming up that we should know about?

LBC: The brand will continue to grow through collaborations with like-minded partners, original content, and future offsite moments that extend Lore’s point of view into the broader culture of the city. Together, these efforts reflect a larger ambition: to build Lore not only as a destination, but as a lasting part of how people gather, recover, and spend time in New York.

AM: Are there any partnerships that you can share that you want us to know about?

LBC: Lore plans to foster community through partnerships with yoga studios, run clubs, and breathwork coaches to offer contextualized events like stretch sessions or guided cold water immersion. We recently came together with Lusso to stock their footwear for sale in our retail section, you’ll also see all of our sauna masters wearing them. We’re working on dialing in a hydration partner as well, more to come on this.

AM: Can we expect to see additional LBC’s in the city or is there an interest to expand to other areas?

LBC: We’ll look to open further uptown and Brooklyn next. We’re excited to expand access to bathing as a regular practice for more people.

IG @lorebathingclub

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT | PG 128 + 134 Raphael Gaultier | 131, 132 + 137 Sean Davidson |

Read the MAY ISSUE #125 of Athleisure Mag and see THE 9LIST X Lore Bathing Club in mag.

IN OUR BAG | WHEN HE HITS THE COURTS

Read the MAY ISSUE #125 of Athleisure Mag and see IN OUR BAG When He Hits the Courts in mag,

ROCK THIS WHEN ATTENDING GALAS, LAUNCHES, + GALLERIES

Read the APR ISSUE #124 of Athleisure Mag and see ROCK THIS WHEN ATTENDING GALAS, LAUNCHES, + GALLERIES in mag.