On's apparel sales jumped 47.7% last quarter, but the category still makes up only about 6% of what the company sells.
An action movie treatment is how it plans to close this gap.
The sportswear brand and Zendaya have launched their second co-created collection, designed by Law Roach.
It is introduced with a kung fu-inspired chase film, where the actress is seen sporting the pieces from the new line.
"Our work with On has always been about pushing what sportswear can look and feel like," Roach said in a press release.
"For this collection, we brought our personality and love of print to technical fabrics, designing pieces to make you feel good when you move in them."
On CMO Alex Griffin reveals that entertainment comes first in how the brand approaches these films.
"We’ve always wanted to create work that goes beyond traditional advertising, building worlds that entertain, surprise and invite people in.
This latest chapter takes that ambition somewhere new, while keeping movement at the heart of the story," he added.
Zendaya has worked with the Swiss sportswear brand since 2024.
She previously starred in an avant-garde sci-fi trailer directed by Nadia Lee Cohen via Academy Films.
Spike Jonze shot the follow-up, a whimsical stop-motion-style film.
Three films in under two years gives On a house style for apparel, which its running line never needed.
Each release hands the clothes their own director and their own genre, so the collection arrives with a brand story attached.
A Rooftop Escape in Python Print
Argentinian trio Pantera directed the hero film through SMUGGLER.
Zendaya moves through an urban, dream-like setting while an athletic gang of women chases her.
Wearing a python-print outfit, she fights through carefully choreographed sequences inspired by the hand-to-hand combat of martial arts films.
She eventually escapes with a leap from the top of a building, helped by a well-timed distraction from Roach.
Pantera mixed its fashion sensibilities with the heightened physicality of action blockbusters and classic kung fu movies.
Photographer Cass Bird shot stills that show Zendaya moving with purpose, attitude, and ease in pieces from the collection.
Shoppers can also try the new season in person through immersive retail pop-ups at On's flagship stores in Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo, and Chengdu.
On applied the same star-led approach to its upcoming football line last month.
Kylian Mbappé signed as global ambassador and product development partner, with his first co-designed boots due in 2027.
Between Zendaya and Mbappé, celebrity marketing now grounds two very different sides of its business.
On is staffing both launches like film productions, which keeps the casting consistent even when the categories are not.
On Apparel's 6% Problem
Apparel is where On has the most room to grow.
On's second-quarter 2026 results put apparel net sales at CHF 54.2 million (about $66.6 million), up 47.7% year over year.
Shoe sales hit CHF 781.6 million ($960.8 million) in the same quarter, so apparel is still a rounding error next to the core business.
The same report shows Asia-Pacific sales rising 43.1% to CHF 170.5 million (about $209.6 million), topping 20% of the total.
This figure gives the Tokyo and Chengdu pop-ups real weight.
A category this small can stall if shoppers don't find a reason to try it.
Brands expanding into one can learn from this launch:
- Match the director to the category. A filmmaker whose visual vocabulary fits the new product line gives it an identity that the core business can't lend it.
- Film the product in motion. Shoppers judge fabric and fit by how a garment moves, so static hero shots undersell a technical apparel line.
- Connect the film to physical retail. A campaign that ends on a screen leaves trial to chance, and apparel sells on touch.
A small category needs a story big enough to be remembered on its own, and that work sits with brand strategy before the casting call.
Our Take: Is Zendaya Becoming On's Franchise?
On has put out three Zendaya films in under two years, each one in a different genre.
We think that she's already a big part of the franchise, and the genre rotation is the smartest part of it.
Sci-fi, stop-motion, and now kung fu all star the same lead, so each release works like a sequel with a different director.
The risk is that the films keep outrunning the clothes.
People remember the "Spider-Man" actress and the chase and forget the anorak.
Mbappé's boots arrive in 2027, and On will have to decide whether this treatment transfers to football or stays as Zendaya's alone.
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