Health or Trend? Sportswear Trade Tendencies

The casualisation of trend is nothing new. Because the mid-2010s, we’ve seen athleisure revolutionising the style business. However lately, shoppers have been integrating an increasing number of sportswear gadgets into their on a regular basis wardrobe.  This has led to a sustained progress within the sportswear market, pushed by the blurring boundaries between health and trend. Mintel’s shopper analysis has discovered a rise in US shoppers buying activewear since 2022 and activewear was the third hottest merchandise to purchase for ladies within the US in 2023, behind the traditional staples of t-shirts and denims. In Europe, Intersport and Sport 2000, two of Germany’s largest sports activities retail networks, noticed record-breaking years for gross sales in 2022. Equally, in China, alternatives for the sportswear business are rising, and optimistic market improvement is predicted to comply with.

So how are trend manufacturers and retailers responding to rising shopper demand for trend and performance? Learn on to search out out.

How we work has modified. By the tip of 2023, round half of the working inhabitants of the UK labored totally or partially from house. Comparable tendencies have been noticed globally.  In 2022, a 3rd of US employees labored principally or solely from house, and slightly below 1 / 4 of employed Canadian adults labored in a hybrid work association. That is unlikely to vary within the close to future. Over three-quarters of Brazilian employees contemplate hybrid work preferrred resulting from its productiveness advantages, and slightly below half of UK employees say they’d solely contemplate making use of to hybrid roles sooner or later. The way forward for work historically office-based work may be very a lot home-based.

These insights into shoppers’ working lives might sound barely incongruous in an article in regards to the sportswear business, however the truth is, work and wardrobe are inextricably linked. The enlargement of versatile and residential working preparations seen lately has not solely drastically modified the strategy to day-to-day working life for many individuals, but additionally their trend selections. 

Previously, shoppers could have simply separated clothes for work, and clothes for house. However now, with many properties changing into places of work, and the inherent formality of the office diminishing, Mintel’s shopper analysis within the US discovered that males at the moment are extra prone to favour snug clothes for the office, with the proviso that the gadgets are versatile and may nonetheless look presentable. Versatility is essential, nonetheless for some shoppers that goes additional than consolation and elegance, performance additionally performs a task. 

Residence exercises are on the rise. Within the UK, over half of lively adults exercised at house as of February 2023, and the same development was noticed within the US. A big 60% of lively US adults exercised at house with out house gear in 2023. Shoppers match exercises and train round work schedules, so activewear that may seamlessly transition between office and work-outs is very wanted by shoppers. This can be a international development, over a 3rd of Chinese language shoppers say versatility is essential when buying sports activities and leisure put on. Manufacturers have already responded with gadgets that aren’t solely practical for exercises but additionally trendy sufficient for the office. Working example: US trend retailer Athleta and their metropolis pants, that are marketed as being “made for work, play, and all the pieces in between”. Straight addressing the rising shopper demand for adaptability and flexibility is important for manufacturers and retailers to develop, as shoppers proceed blurring the traces between trend and sportswear.

In the US, two-thirds of adults have expressed a need to reside in activewear each day, highlighting that activewear has develop into a life-style selection moderately than only a trend development. Activewear holds a powerful emotional enchantment, notably amongst girls within the US, who categorical a need to reside in it resulting from its consolation. As psychological well being consciousness will increase, so does the necessity for holistic self-care, and in search of consolation, by means of meals, magnificence routines, or trend selections, is an enormous a part of that. Nevertheless, the need for consolation shouldn’t be the one wellness development impacting the sportswear market.

In Germany, there may be a rising emphasis on psychological well being and wellbeing, which is driving shopper curiosity in sportswear designed for actions which can be linked to wellness practices, resembling yoga, operating, and mountain climbing. Sportswear manufacturers have the chance to assist shoppers’ dedication to holistic wellness and more healthy existence, by providing recommendation on how one can lead a wholesome life-style past their trend selections. Manufacturers can look to the business’s key gamers for inspiration, resembling Nike’s Coaching Membership, which gives movies and apps to shoppers that promote psychological well being moreover bodily objectives by means of guided meditation.

Sustainability is changing into an more and more essential side of the wellness development. In China, a excessive proportion of shoppers are prepared to pay extra for sportswear created from environmentally-friendly materials. Moreover, 1 / 4 of Germans are all in favour of sustainable sportswear, and this quantity is larger amongst Gen Zs. Sportswear manufacturers needs to be placing sustainability excessive on their record of priorities to align with shopper demand. Encouraging using the second-hand market and round procuring, partnering with sustainability specialists and introducing rental and restore providers are initiatives which have seen success within the German sportswear business, and are possible to achieve success in different markets as a result of rising shopper deal with sustainability. 

Earlier than the rise of the athleisure business, sporting sportswear round the home was completely reserved for sick days for many individuals. However that has modified, the times when sweatpants have been saved for journeys to the fitness center are lengthy gone. Mintel’s current shopper analysis discovered that just about half of UK shoppers surveyed have worn sportswear across the house, nevertheless it’s not simply the informal trend market that has been influenced by sportswear, luxurious trend manufacturers have additionally begun to introduce sports activities and leisure put on components of their collections, highlighting sportswear’s close to omnipotence within the clothes business.

International luxurious manufacturers are more and more adapting to the athleisure market tendencies by launching their very own traces of sportswear-inspired gadgets and collaborating with conventional sports activities manufacturers to merge trend and performance. In 2022, luxurious manufacturers Fendi and Versace launched their very own traces of athleisure gadgets, in response to the buyer demand for the mixture of consolation and elegance. Elsewhere, luxurious manufacturers are collaborating with sports activities manufacturers to interrupt the boundaries between sports activities and trend. As an example, in Germany, luxurious trend model Gucci collaborated with conventional sportswear model Adidas to launch an activewear assortment. By providing merchandise which can be each practical and trendy, luxurious trend manufacturers can develop into extra accessible, and enhance their enchantment to on a regular basis shoppers. The luxurious athleisure development has additionally been seen in China, Gucci even went so far as organising a lake-hiking camp in Beijing, suggesting that sports activities and leisure put on is now an integral a part of the posh trend business.

International sportswear market tendencies have modified lately, and so they replicate how shopper existence have modified. Work routines have modified, and the historically formal environments of the workplace have develop into extra casual. A deal with well being and wellness has made perform and luxury extra wanted in shoppers’ wardrobes. Self-care is more and more essential, and for a lot of shoppers, meaning being snug.
The truth that sportswear has develop into an integral a part of the broader trend business suggests that buyers’ love of informal trend isn’t going wherever quickly. Following the Paris Olympics, which has already had an influence on the sweetness business, shopper curiosity in sports activities and, in consequence, sportswear is prone to rise. Even and not using a post-Olympics surge, there are alternatives for conventional sportswear and luxurious trend manufacturers alike, who can fuse perform with trend to satisfy this shopper demand.

Subscribe to Mintel’s free e-newsletter, Highlight, to get unique content material and insights delivered on to your inbox.