RYU Announces Three New Appointments to its Executive Leadership Team

VANCOUVER, April 26, 2019 /CNW/ - RYU Apparel Inc. (TSX VENTURE: RYU.V, OTCQB: RYPPF), creator of urban athletic apparel, is pleased to announce the appointments of Mr. Ryan Lindholm as SVP of Marketing and Innovation, Ms. Danielle Hinan as Director of Brand and Ms. Bethany Young as Creative Product Design Director.

NEW SVP OF MARKETING and INNOVATION – RYAN LINDHOLM

RYU is pleased to announce the appointment of Ryan Lindholm, as new SVP of Marketing and Innovation, since February, 2019.

Ryan Lindholm is a veteran in the industry, having strategically positioned, built, and launched brands globally for the last 20 years. In his current role, he is responsible for leading the marketing discipline into a new dimension of innovation and design through the lens of a brand, design thinking, product development, marketing and business strategy.

As a futurist and modern-day entrepreneur, Ryan has forged a unique path in his current and previous roles, evolving teams of creative mavericks in every way possible with a goal of deepening the value, accuracy, and service that brads bringing to our daily lives.

In advance of RYU, Ryan spent 10 years working with Nike leading Advanced Concepts. Previously Ryan held senior positions at AKQA, and Razorfish focusing on driving business results through design, world building, data and technology at scale in Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East.

NEW DIRECTOR OF BRAND – DANIELLE HINAN

RYU has also brought on board Danielle Hinan as Director of Brand as of December, 2018.

Danielle is an MBA graduate of Glasgow Caledonian University, London, having 14 years of experience within the fashion industry, with an emphasis on the athleisure market. Her progressive experience has successfully blended traditional and non-traditional marketing strategies. As director of brand, Danielle is responsible for driving insights that contribute to consistent brand strategy, thus strengthening the brand, through innovation, creativity and a value driven lens.

As a creative self-starter with a strong commercial focus Danielle has been an integral contributor of the expansion of multiple brands through distribution channel strategies including wholesale, retail and digital within the Canadian, U.S., Asia, UK and European markets.

In advance of her acceptance to RYU, Danielle was a part of several other iconic brands, such as Sweaty Betty, Monocle and Lolë, dedicating much of her time expanding these brands and driving business growth into new markets globally.

NEW CREATIVE PRODUCT DESIGN DIRECTOR – BETHANY YOUNG

Bethany Young joined RYU this past November as Creative Product Design Director.

Bethany Young brings 10+ years experience to the design team at RYU, having pushed the boundaries of product and design innovation throughout her impressive career to date. Bethany has developed product lines for leading brands and is now driving the strategy and executional roadmap for men's, women's and accessories at RYU, through the lense of consumer needs.

With expertise in filtering authentic insights and trends from athletes globally, Bethany leads with performance-based thinking for the future, leading teams to push boundaries and ideate on the advancement of technical innovations.

As a strategic creative, Bethany has lead the re-building and evolution of new market share opportunities by launching leading-edge categories that have expanded and enhanced the global technical market place.

Devoted to research, design, and development in ground breaking technical apparel, Bethany has progressively developed products at Lululemon, and Kit and Ace, while being mentored by industry leaders at Y-3 and Nike, allowing her to build her expansive design repertoire.

"The talent that RYU is attracting is impressive and we are honoured to be welcoming these new members on our journey," said Marcello Leone, CEO and President of RYU. "Our new additions to the team will add tremendous value to the brand. They each had several opportunities in the market, but chose to become part of RYU because they share our vision for where the brand is going and what we are creating".

COMPANY MOVES

Mr. Pedro Villa, left his position of CFO and Secretary, effective April 24^th, 2019, and he remains as a consultant for the transition period.

RYU announces the concurrent appointment of Mr. Brett Pawson, as interim Chief Financial Officer and interim Corporate Secretary, effective April 24^th, 2019, for the transition period, while a new CFO will be appointed by the company within the next 30 – 60 days.

Mr. Pawson holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Saskatchewan and is a Ernst & Young alumni. With his background Mr. Pawson has been the SVP of Retail and Operations since March 2017 and previously the VP of Retail beginning March 2015. His management competencies encompass organizational leadership, corporate finance, financial modelling, mergers and acquisitions.

About RYU

Respect Your Universe is an award-winning urban athletic apparel and accessories brand engineered for the fitness, performance and lifestyle of the athletic man and woman. Designed without compromise for fit, comfort, and durability, RYU exists to facilitate human performance. For more information, visit: http://ryu.com

On Behalf of the Board

RYU APPAREL INC.
"Marcello Leone"

Marcello Leone, CEO, President and Chairman of the Board
Tel: 604-235-2880

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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