Crue Nashville

A new retailer with deep local ties brings fashionable workout clothes to 12 South.

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Lauren Fawaz comes by entrepreneurship honestly.

From the family behind two beloved Nashville culinary favorites, Kalamatas and Epice, it only made sense that she would one day set up shop of her own. Only Fawaz isn’t carrying the restaurateur torch. Instead, she’s opened Crue, a new retail shop in 12 South carrying premium athleisure wear.

“Working out is a big part of my life and the availability of fashion workout clothes was not here,” Fawaz says. “I wanted to bring something [to Nashville] that you could work out in, feel cute in, feel good in, but also be able to go to lunch with your friends or run errands in and still feel put together and not sloppy.”

After working as a buyer at Hemline for the last seven years, Fawaz is now applying her talent for picking unique brands and flattering styles to all things workout gear. Offering leggings, tops, swimwear, and sneakers from brands like Varley, DYI, Alala, and more, Fawaz sees Crue as a niche spot carrying everything a fitness lover needs in apparel. Crue also carries backpacks, totes, water bottles, and even one-pound weights fashionably disguised as bangles.

“I was buying these brands before we opened,” she says, “and I wanted to bring them to Nashville. Athleisure is blowing up. I don’t think it’s peaked yet.”

Fawaz wanted to open Crue in a neighborhood that was also blowing up. By opening in 12 South, not only is the Nashville native and Belmont graduate across the street from Epice, she’s surrounded by other retailers and restaurants, successfully catering to locals and tourists alike.

“It’s been two years in the making, wanting to go out on my own,” she says. “Location is everything, so I feel like this [space] was meant to be.”

From designing the shop’s custom copper racks and floating shelves to finely curating the brands customers can’t find elsewhere in town, Fawaz says it’s all done with intention.

“Getting to show off your personality through the unique styles only found here leaves every woman feeling more confident.”

Crue, 2905 12thAve. S., Ste. 101; instagram.com/cruenashville