GAP INC. AND CHALHOUB GROUP PARTNER TO SCALE ATHLETA’S FOOTPRINT INTO THE GCC E-COMMERCE MARKET

Gap Inc. and Chalhoub Group have partnered to bring Athleta to the GCC e-commerce market, with the brand now available online across the region.

In the GCC, a woman’s day rarely has an off switch. It’s the meeting before the run, the commute after class, the late shoot, the school pickup, the flight at dawn. Athleta arrives with a simple belief: if women perform all day, their clothes should too.

Launching under its regional campaign, “My World. My Rules.”, Athleta enters the GCC with a point of view the category hasn’t owned: performance isn’t just the workout. It’s everything around it.

“The workout is one part of the day. Movement is all of it.”

The women-first performance brand is now live online across the region, built for women whose workout is only one part of a day that never stops.

THE ALL-DAY EDIT

Activewear has long asked women to choose between performing and looking considered. Athleta was designed for women and refuses the choice. Technical performance meets everyday versatility, so the same piece moves from a run or training session into work, travel and everything in between. Performance, comfort, versatility and design matter everywhere.

 

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THREE WOMEN. ZERO SHORTCUTS.

The regional launch campaign is led by three women from across the region, each at the top of a very different field:

Amna Al Qubaisi

Emirati professional racing driver. She is the first Emirati woman to compete internationally in single-seater racing and the first Arab woman to win a Formula 4 race. After F1 Academy, she became the first female driver in the Pro category of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, and was named to Time’s 100 Most Influential People in Sports list in 2026.

Lojain Alrefae

Saudi fitness trainer, endurance athlete and fashion designer. Co-founder of Saudi activewear label Mulu Athletics, she runs endurance races, including AlUla events, with a personal goal of completing a 70+ km ultramarathon.

Salma El Kashef

Egyptian film director and a graduate of the High Cinema Institute, where she studied cinematography. She has directed commercials for a variety of brands, and her work is driven by a passion for cinematic storytelling and a love of bringing stories to life through visual expression.

The campaign looks past the podium, the finish line and the final cut. How Amna performs behind the wheel, how Lojain performs on the run and how Salma performs when she calls “action” aren’t built only in those moments. They’re built through the discipline, mindset and everyday demands of the rest of their lives. Their worlds are different. Their rules are different. But for each of them, training isn’t something that starts and stops with a workout. It’s a way of living.

Shot through campaign films and photography, the launch follows all three beyond their defining moments and into the unseen hours of preparation, travel and routine that sit behind them.

A COMMUNITY IN MOTION

Athleta’s arrival in the GCC is about more than product. The community of women who define performance on their own terms already exists, a space where ambition, wellbeing and style sit together rather than compete. They just don’t know they’re part of it yet. Athleta isn’t building something new. It’s bringing together what’s already there.

ABOUT ATHLETA

Athleta is a premium performance lifestyle brand with a mission to fuel women’s confidence, connection, and evolution through movement. Inspired by the many ways women move through life, Athleta designs performance apparel that seamlessly blends technical innovation, elevated style, and a deep understanding of women’s unique needs.

A Certified B Corp, Athleta is committed to advancing women and girls while creating positive impact for people and the planet. Based in San Francisco, CA and a Gap Inc. brand (NYSE: GAP), Athleta has launched in the Middle East in partnership with Chalhoub Group. For more information, visit athleta.ae and follow @athletaarabia.