In 2024, entrepreneur and influencer Cassey Ho kept a big secret from her millions of followers: her popular fitness and apparel brand, Popflex, was about to launch an affordable collection with Target. Known for her online fitness instruction under the handle Blogilates, Ho founded Popflex in 2016. Throughout the years, she developed a strong connection with her audience, sharing the behind-the-scenes of her design process. Fans had been asking for more affordable versions of her popular products, like the $60 lilac pirouette skort worn by Taylor Swift. In 2024, after months of quiet work, Ho’s team launched the new collection, Blogilates for Target, which quickly went viral.
The collection, featuring tops, bottoms, sports bras, and more, was priced between $15 and $40. It sold roughly half of its inventory across both online and physical stores within the first week of its launch. One of Ho’s videos, where she stands in front of the Target display, received over 40 million views across her social media channels. Additionally, videos of fans trying on the clothes and comparing them to Popflex’s original items gained significant traction. Some fans have even expressed that they prefer the new designs and lower price points, and the collection has introduced many to Popflex. Since the Blogilates launch, sales on Popflex’s website have increased by 112% year-over-year.
Reflecting on the success, Ho admitted, “We had worked so hard throughout the year, and there were so many problems that we dealt with, and then I started getting really nervous at the end, being like, ‘How are we going to sell all of these units?’ But people came out, so it’s been really cool.”
However, getting to this point wasn’t easy. As a direct-to-consumer brand, Popflex wasn’t prepared to produce the large quantities needed for a nationwide Target release. Additionally, Ho had to balance her desire to maintain the romantic and girly aesthetic of Popflex while sourcing materials that would keep the price point low.
The partnership with Target started after the success of Blogilates Home Workout Equipment, which sold out within weeks after its December 2020 release. This success caught the attention of Target’s buyers, but the apparel collaboration didn’t become a reality until early January 2024. Ho and her team worked at a rapid pace to prepare for the collection launch.
Creating the collection presented numerous challenges, as Ho and her team had never produced on such a large scale. One of the biggest hurdles was finding the right fabric to keep the cost low. Ho revealed one major issue that arose during production: the fabric for the tops and bottoms didn’t match in color. A batch of 57,000 yards of fabric for the bottoms turned out to be slightly more blue than the fabric for the tops, which risked missing the production deadline. To fix this, the fabrics were moved to Popflex, re-woven, and re-dyed, with Ho’s team air-shipping the affected units to Target at their own expense.
In addition to production challenges, Ho faced the difficulty of managing two brands without the ability to hire a larger team. She explained that she didn’t want to risk having to lay off staff if the venture didn’t succeed. Despite the stress, her team worked hard to meet the demands of the project.
When it came to marketing, Ho took a personal approach, documenting the journey through videos filmed on her phone. She captured spontaneous moments, like walking into a Target store and lying on the floor in disbelief. The excitement from her fans and followers was palpable, with many creating TikToks to showcase their shopping experiences and try-ons. The viral nature of these videos helped push the collection’s sales even further. Ho emphasized that the success of the collection felt like a collective achievement, especially for long-time fans who have watched her journey from creating YouTube videos to launching Popflex and now having a line at Target.
Looking ahead, Ho is navigating the next steps for both Popflex and the Blogilates for Target brand. Despite concerns that the Target collaboration might take away from Popflex’s sales, Ho was pleased to see that the launch boosted Popflex’s sales as well. The two brands seem to appeal to different sets of customers, both seeking the same aesthetic and design feeling. Moving forward, Ho will continue to manage both businesses while exploring how to balance her content creation with the demands of running two brands.
As for the future of the Target partnership, Ho and her team are awaiting the results of the experiment to determine whether the collaboration will continue. For now, Ho is focused on figuring out how to run two businesses simultaneously, especially as the demand for her content and products continues to grow.
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