{"id":710354,"date":"2025-11-19T09:38:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T06:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=710354"},"modified":"2025-11-19T09:38:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T06:38:15","slug":"people-will-pay-anything-for-longevity-how-equinox-is-building-to-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=710354","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPeople Will Pay Anything for Longevity\u201d: How Equinox is Building to Last"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
Beauty<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cPeople Will Pay Anything for Longevity\u201d: How Equinox is Building to Last<\/h1>\n
By <\/span>Madeleine Schulz<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

November 19, 2025<\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  • \n
  • \n
  • \n
  • <\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    \n
    \n
    <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    \n
    \n
    Photo: Courtesy of Equinox<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
    \n
    \n
    \n
    \n
    \n
    \n
    \n

    Wellness. Longevity. Community. Equinox CEO Harvey Spevak isn\u2019t a fan of 2025\u2019s biggest beauty buzzwords. But he\u2019s willing to concede that they are pillars of the luxury fitness club\u2019s next phase of growth.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThese are words that are being bounced around, but the exciting part is that you\u2019re going to have almost a $10 trillion category \u2014 broadly defined \u2014 in the coming years. So it\u2019s very high growth,\u201d Spevak says. \u201cThe consumer has a more robust appetite than ever before for health, wellness and longevity. Even though I don\u2019t love the word wellness, because most people don\u2019t understand what that word means anymore, what it does mean is that the consumer is more interested in what Equinox has to offer and what Equinox will offer in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

    As predicted at the beginning of the year, people are now thinking longer term when it comes to their physical health, adjusting their fitness and health routines \u2014\u00a0and investments \u2014\u00a0accordingly. Gen Z and millennial consumers surveyed in a recent Future of Wellness report by McKinsey are prioritizing wellness more in 2025 than one year ago; up to 60% of consumers report that healthy aging is a \u201ctop\u201d or \u201cvery important\u201d priority for them.<\/p>\n

    In recent years, Equinox, which was founded in 1991 with one Manhattan location, has been laying the foundations for growth in a world where fitness no longer means simply lifting weights and pounding a treadmill. Within its clubs, the company has upped its design features and added more communal spaces to encourage members to spend even longer in the vicinity. It\u2019s introduced \u201cbiohacking elements\u201d, as Spevak calls them, including contrast therapy, more saunas (including infrared), IV drips and hyperbolic chambers.<\/p>\n

    Equinox has had a tough few years, following the closure of its doors during Covid. In March 2024, Equinox raised $1.8 billion from a group of private capital investors, including private lender Sixth Street and private equity group Silver Lake, in order to refinance $1.2 million in debt. Spevak is confident that, by leaning into longevity and wellness tech \u2014\u00a0and investing further in projects like hotels \u2014\u00a0the fitness club can return to a place of strength.<\/p>\n

    \n
    \"Image<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/p>\n

    Equinox\u2019s new West Palm Beach location.<\/p>\n

    <\/span>Photos: Courtesy of Equinox<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    \n
    \n
    \n
    \n

    Spevak says demand is rebounding, with all four of Equinox\u2019s most recent openings. In West Palm Beach, pre-opening membership sales exceeded expectations by 250%. (Equinox declined to share numbers, but confirmed that expectations were calculated based on budgets from the history of other new market openings.) There are 40 additional locations in the pipeline, with the view of opening about 10 locations per year (Chicago\u2019s West Loop, San Diego, Nashville and a second Santa Monica outpost are all on deck for the coming months), as well as a Saudi Arabia Equinox Hotel on the way for spring 2026.<\/p>\n

    The Equinox Hotel, which opened in New York\u2019s Hudson Yards in 2019, is a microcosm of where the luxury fitness club is headed \u2014 high design, advanced tech, white-glove service. \u201cIt\u2019s a great inflection of not just how we can extend the brand, but also how we understand our consumer and anticipate their needs,\u201d Spevak says. The hotel is the embodiment of the \u201chigh-performance lifestyle\u201d Equinox centers its messaging around. \u201cYes, we do the traditional stuff very well, the massages, the facials \u2014 but we\u2019ve also got the contrast therapy. We have a very big IV drip business there. We\u2019ve got some unique offerings that don\u2019t exist anywhere else.\u201d The rooms are optimized for the best possible sleep (another luxury) \u2014 lights off, full blackout, 66\u00b0F. Prices start at about $910 a night.<\/p>\n

    Equinox\u2019s supercharge is squarely in response to consumer demand, Spevak says. It\u2019s driven by young people who, he says, are planning further out than ever. They\u2019re also spending more on wellness than generations prior. \u201cYounger people, particularly young women, are more focused now on what\u2019s going to happen in 20, 30, 40 years,\u201d the CEO says. \u201cThat used to not be the case.\u201d This is reflected in their habits: Spevak believes that dinner, wine and bed by midnight beats out 4am Friday and Saturday nights, so that young people can make their morning gym classes. \u201cIt\u2019s a very different mindset,\u201d he says. \u201cThe social\u2019s still there, but in a very different way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    \n
    \n
    \n
    \n
    \n
    \"Image<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/p>\n

    Equinox CEO Harvey Spevak.<\/p>\n

    <\/span>Photo: Courtesy of Equinox<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

    Size matters<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Equinox is operating in an increasingly crowded environment. It may be the largest retailer by square footage in Manhattan, but on every block there\u2019s a new boutique fitness class, specialized longevity clinic, or new-fangled \u2018social wellness club\u2019. How does Equinox compete with \u2014 and stay ahead of \u2014\u00a0these challengers?<\/p>\n

    Spevak says it\u2019s good for business: \u201cThat just validates the demand and speaks to the opportunity Equinox has going forward.\u201d These new players can\u2019t match Equinox\u2019s credibility and authority, he contends. \u201cThe challenge is that the fitness industry has historically been very mom and pop and very fragmented,\u201d he says. \u201cIt still is. With the longevity stuff, it\u2019s a Wild West right now. Every day there\u2019s a new pill; every day there\u2019s a new program. The consumer has to be careful of where they engage, because some of those concepts will be successful and scale over time, but some of them will be in and out in a fad way.\u201d Spevak believes that, for consumers having a tough time sussing out what they should and should not buy into, Equinox can offer an easy in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    \n
    \n
    \n
    \n

    The CEO believes there\u2019s something to be said for size. \u201cWe\u2019re a much bigger community. We\u2019re a more international community,\u201d he says, expecting that this will entice gym-goers whose networks are already tapped into the Equinox ecosystem. As the gym continues to expand internationally (there\u2019s a Caribbean location on the way, though Spevak declines to share specifics), this community element will strengthen, he expects.<\/p>\n

    For those who want ultra-specific treatments, Equinox may not be the fit. But the fitness center can, on one hand, offer a gateway into a lot of the longevity programing, and on the other, offer a tailored exercise regime to those experimenting with deeper and more complex advancements. Equinox won\u2019t offer nano-implants for hormonal health, but it does offer personalized programs based on wearables data. The fitness center won\u2019t administer GLP-1s (this is left to the medical professionals), but it has devised a GLP-1 training protocol for those taking the medication.<\/p>\n

    Tech boost<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Equinox has upped \u2014\u00a0and will continue to up \u2014\u00a0its investment in technology to future-proof.<\/p>\n

    AI is a focus in three key areas, Spevak says: cost reduction, productivity and enhancing the in-club experience. The CEO offers real estate development as an example. What would have taken 18 months from finding a site to opening can now take 14 months \u2014 and will eventually go down to 12. \u201cWhat that does is open up the ability for the team to spend more time on creativity and innovating in terms of design, layout and program, as compared to some of the construction details,\u201d he says. AI for personalization will also become increasingly key to Equinox\u2019s offering.<\/p>\n

    The latest such launch is Equninox\u2019s women\u2019s initiative, Equinox Arc, announced last month. The program includes personalized guidance around health, fitness and longevity, under coaches who have completed a Women\u2019s Health Certificate. They\u2019ll leverage wearable and biometrics data to offer training that considers the influences of hormone health, fertility, post-partum and perimenopause.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    \n
    \n
    \n
    \n
    \n
    \"Image<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/p>\n

    Equinox launched its new women-focused program in October.<\/p>\n

    <\/span>Photo: Courtesy of Equinox<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

    The gym\u2019s buzziest bid to merge innovation and health programing, though, was in May 2024 when it announced the launch of Equinox Optimize, the $40,000 yearly program tailored to members looking to optimize their health via biometrics analysis, training and over 100 biomarkers, including hormone balance and organ status. \u201cIt was really dipping our toe in the water,\u201d Spevak says. The program launched at select clubs in Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco in spring 2024, as well as in select New York clubs this year. The waitlist remains over 1,000-people long.<\/p>\n

    Spevak\u2019s takeaway? \u201cPeople \u2014 certainly the right people \u2014 are willing to pay anything for longevity.\u201d He defines longevity as energy and vitality, which, he says, ties into health\u2019s status as the new luxury. \u201cThe idea behind Optimize is we are going to use biomarkers and take blood to provide data, and that data will inform training protocols around working with a coach, a personal trainer, a sleep coach, or a nutrition coach, all supervised by a concierge.\u201d There\u2019ll be more to come on Optimize, Spevak promises, adding that Equinox plans to introduce similarly personalized programs in 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    \n
    \n
    \n
    \n

    Consumers are willing to pay more for products that deliver lasting impact, with 72% open to spending more on longevity-driven solutions and 69% favoring products that work at a genetic level, per Vogue Business<\/em>\u2019s 2025 Future of Appearance survey.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThat\u2019s a big part of the future, tapping into data from different sources to inform, test and see how you\u2019re doing \u2014 and tweak,\u201d Spevak says. \u201cIt\u2019s something that I\u2019ve been doing for 20 years and it really makes a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n
    \"Image<\/span><\/div>\n
    <\/p>\n

    Equinox is betting on tech-enabled personalization to enhance its offering.<\/p>\n

    <\/span>Photo: Courtesy of Equinox<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

    Shifting spend<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Spevak is confident that consumer\u2019s luxury spend will shift further away from products to experience \u2014\u00a0especially in the realm of health and wellness. It\u2019s already happening, he says. \u201cWhat you\u2019re seeing is people are thinking about how to live a high-performance lifestyle,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    \n
    \n
    \n
    \n

    Plus, investment in one\u2019s health often begets further investment. Though the efficacy and ethics of GLP-1 drugs for users who aren\u2019t diabetic or overweight can be debated, the fact is that over 2% of Americans are on the medication \u2014 up 600% over six years, according to Fair Health. Notably, this data is based on healthcare claim records, but many GLP-1 medications are now available without a prescription, so the actual number is likely far higher. Research organization Rand puts the estimate at 12%, based on a recent survey. For Equinox, this is a big opportunity, which has driven the launch of its GLP-1 training protocol, creating a certification through its education arm to certify coaches on how to train someone who is on GLP-1s.<\/p>\n

    \u201cA lot of people thought that what we do was going to be under a lot of pressure, because now you can now just take a pill,\u201d Spevek says of last year, when GLP-1s began their ascent. \u201cWhat quickly became obvious was that GLP-1s are a good kickstart \u2014 depending on your own situation \u2014 but you need to complement them with lifestyle changes. That\u2019s working out; that\u2019s eating. So it\u2019s been good for business.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Spevak anticipates more such shifts in the coming years. Equinox has a health advisory board with experts from science, medicine and various academic fields who help the team to assess which trends are likely to come and go, which will sustain over time, and which are safe and legitimate. Essentially, which are worth investing in. \u201cWhile we will always be innovative and ideating new concepts, at the same time, we\u2019re doing it through the lens of what\u2019s safe and effective, which is critically important,\u201d Spevak says.<\/p>\n

    The CEO is confident that consumers will only increase their investment in companies that can service their wellness and longevity ambitions. \u201cThere\u2019s still great demand for luxury products, of course, but it\u2019s under pressure,\u201d Spevak says. \u201cIt\u2019s because the consumer has shifted to unique experiences, [meaning] health and wellness. That\u2019s why I feel like we\u2019re just warming up. We have a big opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

    More from this author:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    How Basic.Space Cracked \u2018New Luxury\u2019 for the Next Gen<\/p>\n

    What is Skims\u2019s Secret Recipe?<\/p>\n

    How Erede Is Building a Jewelry Brand for Tomorrow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

    Source URL: http:\/\/vogue.com\/article\/people-will-pay-anything-for-longevity-how-equinox-is-building-to-last<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Beauty \u201cPeople Will Pay Anything for Longevity\u201d: How Equinox is Building to Last By Madeleine Schulz November 19, 2025 Photo: Courtesy of Equinox Wellness. Longevity. Community. Equinox CEO Harvey Spevak isn\u2019t a fan of 2025\u2019s biggest beauty buzzwords. But he\u2019s willing to concede that they are pillars of the luxury fitness club\u2019s next phase of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":710355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-710354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-vogue-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=710354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/710355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=710354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=710354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=710354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}