APL was founded in 2009 by Adam and Ryan Goldston, identical twins, and is based in
Los Angeles. The company was started when the Goldstons were students and athletes at the
University of Southern California. Its first shoe, the APL Concept 1, included eight
compression springs to give extra
vertical jump height to the wearer. After advertising the shoe in a double-page
Slam magazine advertisement, many NBA players, agents, relatives, and the league itself reached out to the company to learn more. The NBA in 2010 banned the Concept 1 from all league functions, including games, for providing an undue competitive advantage; it was the first time the league had banned a sneaker model for performance reasons. Many NBA and
WNBA players bought the Concept 1 shoes anyway, and the company continued to produce performance and luxury apparel from then on. APL has two flagship retail stores: one at
The Grove at Farmers Market in LA, which opened in 2019, and one in
SoHo, Manhattan, which opened in 2023. Their products are also sold at
Nordstrom,
Selfridges,
Net-A-Porter,
Shopbop,
Lane Crawford, and
Harvey Nichols. ==Endorsements and sponsorships==