A fledgling sports clothing company founded during the coronavirus lockdown has agreed a deal with global sprinting superstar Fred Kerley to be its new shareholder and adviser. The US track star, who last week won gold in the 100m at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, has agreed terms with Birmingham-based CXP which makes technical sports underwear.
The move expands on an existing relationship between the firm and the 27-year-old runner which has seen them work together already for over a year. CXP was founded in 2020 and is aiming to shake up what it calls "an often-neglected corner of the performance apparel market", with sports stars wearing underwear from fashion brands rather than clothing developed specifically for sport.
Mr Kerley, who also took home 100m silver at last year's Olympics, was wearing CXP underwear when he won the 100m in 9.86 seconds in Eugene on July 16.
Following his investment, he will continue to work closely with the Digbeth-based brand's research and development team to create a series of products aimed at enabling elite athletes to perform.
CXP founder Tom Austin said: "It is a great honour to officially welcome Fred to the CXP team. We've had a great relationship with him and his team since we first started working together before the Tokyo Olympics and we are so proud to now have the quickest man in the world sharing his insights and working alongside us.
"For too long now, professional athletes have been asked to perform at the highest level while wearing underwear from a fashion brand or with no performance functionality.
"We believe the sports underwear market has been historically undervalued and overlooked and so our aim has always been to disrupt that world by creating a product which is steeped in testing and research and aids athletes in their performance and recovery. We are proud to have supported Fred's hard work and training.
"Him coming on board to join the CXP team officially is the best endorsement we could ask for and Fred will play a crucial role going forwards in helping to further develop our product range and ensure that CXP continues to lead the market in sports performance and training underwear."
Mr Kerley added: "CXP has been extremely important in my journey. The brand focused on the small details that I feel a lot of track and field athletes ignore and those small details allowed me to get to the next level.
"I have always believed in myself, CXP also has the same underdog mentality that I have - when no one believed in me, CXP did."
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
