Inside the LSKD juggernaut: From bedroom hustle to $150m athleisure empire

He was known as a ‘Loose kid’ - but that moniker was the origin of LSKD - one of Australia’s fastest-growing sportswear brands, now generating $150 million a year. This is the inside story.

Once known by his high school nickname ‘Loose Kid’, the founder of LSKD has turned the moniker into one of Australia’s fastest-growing sportswear brands, now generating $150 million a year.

Queensland-born LSKD founder Jason Daniel was just 13 when fellow BMX riders nicknamed him “The Loose Kid” thanks to his fearless riding – a persona that would later inspire his rapidly expanding global activewear empire.

From shipping T-shirts out of his mother’s Logan bedroom to operating 22 retail stores across Australia and New Zealand, Mr Daniel’s journey represents a remarkable Australian success story.

“I must have not slept a lot during those years of juggling everything.” Mr Daniel said of his early days.

LSKD Founder Jason Daniel started the business from his mum’s bedroom. Picture: Nigel Hallett

What began as a passion for BMX — selling T-shirts from his mum’s bedroom and setting up stands at motocross tracks — grew into the foundations of a national brand.

Soon after finishing high school, Mr Daniel officially launched Loose Kid Industries (LKI) in 2007 at just 19, while juggling a carpentry apprenticeship and an aspiring professional motocross career. He’d also dabbled in electrical work and took on jobs at a bricklaying yard before settling into carpentry, earning just $7 an hour.

But in 2010, after finishing his apprenticeship and breaking his wrist racing, Mr Daniel gave up both carpentry and motocross.

Loose Kid Industries became his full-time focus.

The business remained stagnant at $3m annual revenue for the next eight years, selling to well-known retailers including City Beach.

But the birth of his son in 2018 sparked something inside, he went searching for the ‘why’ behind his business, prompting a rebrand to LSKD.

“The business was actually really struggling,” Mr Daniel said.

“I started on this learning journey of needing to find my why. I really started thinking about why we’re here and what the company serves.”

LSKD Founder Jason Daniel with his clothing range. Picture: Nigel Hallett

The rebrand to LSKD came with a new mission – “to inspire our community to be 1 per cent better every day” – which sparked exponential growth.

A breakthrough women’s sports legging launch in July 2019 proved to be the turning point for the company.
The pair of leggings, called the “Rep tight”, had sold out immediately after the team spent close to 18 months developing the product.

The first drop of the leggings was around 2000 units which sold out in under a month and relaunched soon after - quickly selling out again.

The team made a brave call when they launched, deciding to sell the product straight to their community instead of moving them wholesale.

Mr Daniel said early momentum came from going “all in” on digital marketing and connecting with the brand’s functional fitness community.

“We developed our own fabric, refined the fit and gathered constant feedback,” he said.

“We knew we had something special when we launched that legging.

“Part of that was from listening to our community in functional fitness and what they wanted.

“Word of mouth took off fast, and it all came down to having a product that genuinely delivered on performance and fit.

“It was a turning point - not just in product, but in the way we built the brand. Today, it is still one of our top selling leggings.”

The Logan-based business now employs more than 500 people including retail staff - an astronomical increase from the humble team of just 12 back in 2019.

The company’s 4000sq m Loganholme headquarters features a retail store, offices, gym, and rooftop event space, recently adding a cafe called “Home Ground by LSKD’ and a second building dedicated to product development and research.

LSKD HQ in Logan. Picture: Nigel Hallett

“We’ve built out a full product development R & D room. We develop a lot of our own fabrics directly with the mill,” he said.

“We’re really passionate about how we can create the best product in the world.”

“We pay for our team’s Audible account, we pay for their books. We invest a lot in personal development for them to try and help their careers and their personal lives.”

The company plans to open nine more retail stores this year, with its most recent opening in Mount Maunganui in New Zealand last month.

The business is also on a quest to break into the US market, with a team based in San Diego since 2023.

Mr Daniel said what separates LSKD from established giants like Nike and Adidas is its community focus and obsession with product quality.

“Our community is why we’re here and who we work for,” he said.

“We’re really inspired by how we support athletes in their journey.”

For Mr Daniel, now 38, the journey is just beginning.

“I still think I’m quite young, and I’m still very early days in my career. It’s only really just starting.”

Originally published as Inside the LSKD juggernaut: From bedroom hustle to $150m athleisure empire