Just days after staging the biggest runway of its eight-year history and achieving a world-recognised sustainability benchmark, one of the co-founders of athleisure brand P.E Nation has announced she is leaving the company.
Claire Greaves (formerly Tregoning) confirmed via a statement on Thursday that she is stepping down from her day-to-day role at the brand, which she founded 10 years ago with friend Pip Edwards. Edwards will continue as creative director of the business, which is majority owned by Sydney-based Hotsprings.
P.E Nation co-founders Pip Edwards (left) and Claire Greaves in 2022.Credit: Steven Siewert
“Claire Greaves has made the decision to step out of the day-to-day running of the business,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement. “Claire will remain on the board and will retain her shareholding as the company continues to thrive in the very creative, visionary hands of Pip Edwards.”
The statement confirmed months of rumours that Greaves had left the business, with reports that during a long leave of absence last year, her office at P.E Nation’s headquarters in Sydney’s Alexandria had been reassigned for other purposes. At the time, it was understood Greaves had taken leave for personal reasons and was spending time in Byron Bay, where she is behind Sun Ranch, a luxury guesthouse in a refurbished 1980s home just outside the tourist town.
Greaves and Edwards were unavailable for comment.
On Saturday, P.E Nation staged the Grand Showcase at the Melbourne Fashion Festival, the only solo featured runway of the six-night program. Greaves was not present at the show and had not appeared in any of the promotional material in the lead-up to the festival.
Pip Edwards takes her bow at the end of the P.E Nation Grand Showcase at the Melbourne Fashion Festival on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images
On Thursday, Edwards posted on her personal Instagram about P.E Nation achieving B Corp status, a global benchmark for sustainability. “The road to B Corp certification has been a full business, all staff, enormous initiative over the past 2 years, and I couldn’t be more proud,” she wrote. Her post did not acknowledge Greaves.
