Athletifreak activewear brand opens first Long Island store

Activewear with a stylish, winning edge leads the lineup at the Athletifreak boutique in Huntington Station.

Open since January, the store is New York’s first brick-and-mortar location for the luxury athletic and lifestyle line founded in 2021 by Mo and Noor Wadhwani, a married New Jersey-based business team with two teenage kids.

"The vision, from the beginning, was to create a brand that celebrates people that have a freakish passion for what they do," says Mo, 42. "When you’re truly passionate about something, that can be your greatest superpower."

The business "collides" (his term) the couple’s areas of expertise. He’s spent two decades in corporate executive positions with Johnson & Johnson, Philips, Honeywell and BASF. Noor, who studied at the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Delhi, India, has a background in design.

"We launched with one hoodie," says Noor, 39, adding that the brand has grown to include everything from shorts and tees to sweatsuits and blazers. "It’s been a gradual, natural progression. It’s a long game, not a sprint."

Top sellers include men’s and women’s training shorts ($88), followed by Ultralux hoodies ($178-$250), which are named after the super soft, fluid fabric.

Over the past five years, Athletifreak has gone from being sold online and at pop-up shops to physical footprints in New Jersey, where the flagship opened in 2022, Long Island, Nashville and Delhi, India.

Huntington Station leads the way in the brand’s planned expansion in the Northeast. "Our e-commerce presence in New York, specifically Long Island," Mo says, "has been very strong since Day One."

When Mo’s father came to the U.S. from India he stayed with relatives in Nassau County, which also gives him a personal connection to the area. "When I was growing up, we’d spend the weekends of every month in Syosset," Mo says. "I still have relatives on  Long Island."

For Noor, the forces of family and place inspire her designs. The latest Athletifreak drop — called Terrain — is inspired by a trip to the southwest with Mo and their kids to Zion National Park and the Valley of Fire State Park.

"Color is always present in our collections," she says. "It energizes you. The collection is built around the idea that athletes don’t move through controlled environments — they move through surfaces that push back."

Athletifreak, 350 Walt Whitman Rd., Huntington Station, 551-220-6151, athletifreak.com.