The Los Angeles-headquartered Alo is an acronym for air, land and ocean, and has been worn by celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Katie Holmes, Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner.
Alo Yoga Ireland Ltd has lodged an application to revamp 62-63 Grafton Street. A letter to Dublin City Council from architect Deirdre Dolan of SSA Architects, on behalf of Alo Yoga, states that it is “a globally recognised brand known for its contemporary yoga apparel and lifestyle products”.
Ms Dolan claims the brand has a “modern and sleek aesthetic”, and they want to ensure that this new Dublin store reflects this. “To achieve this, it seeks to update the existing shopfront to align with Alo Yoga’s contemporary branding,” she says.
The alterations planned “are designed to enhance the visual appeal of the premises while maintaining the character of Grafton Street”.
The owner of 62-63 Grafton Street is Dunnes Stores. Mark Clifford, a property director at Better Value UC, a Dunnes firm, has provided a letter of consent allowing Alo Yoga Ireland to lodge the planning application.
The brand’s stores are mainly US based but the opening of the Grafton Street outlet follows on from Alo Yoga’s first store in the UK, on London’s King Road, last November.
The company will be hoping to get a slice of the athleisure boom here. Lululemon, a competitor in the yoga apparel market, increased its revenues here by 30pc to €12.8m in the 12 months to the end of January as its pre-tax profits almost doubled to €473,577.
Lululemon opened its standalone flagship store on Dublin’s Grafton Street in the final quarter of 2021 at a premises formerly occupied by retailer Pamela Scott.
The move by Alo Yoga follows on from two other international retailers lodging plans in recent weeks to open up new outlets on Grafton Street.
In August, fashion retail giant Mango lodged plans with Dublin City Council to carry out works to open an outlet at 112-113 Grafton Street.
In July, a unit of Italian owned make-up group Kiko Cosmetics Ireland Ltd lodged plans for a new outlet at number 23 on Dublin’s main shopping thoroughfare.