As mall footfall wanes and Amazon looms, athleisure has been an unlikely boon for retailers in need of some good news.
Source: Stretching out: The global athleisure boom in 5 charts – Digiday
The Digiday article has a lot of charts and information to say one thing, jeans and khakis are in troubled waters.
When Beyonce is taking on the CMA’s and deciding to launch a completely new line of clothing, not named Dereon, without the help of adidas, or Puma, then times have definitely changed. Yes, the article is about the growth of athletic apparel, but what it’s saying is the world is aware that it’s overweight. Jeans are uncomfortable and dress shirts don’t allow us to take the stairs and remain “ready to work”.
People aren’t just opting for athletic apparel after work, casual Friday is turning into, “let’s walk in the parking lot” Friday. All of this is great information for market share leader Nike, but as this trend continues, it bodes well for the Three Stripes brand. Adidas is killing it right now overall. Their shares are up, their share of the US market is up, and somewhere Run DMC is preparing for a retro throw back concert to pair Adidas’ past to Adidas’ Future campaign featuring Pharrell (Okay this isn’t happening but if adidas is reading, pay me for this idea later.)
This is also a good time to possibly launch that apparel line you’ve been considering. As the article states this market is far from being saturated, that doesn’t mean it won’t be tough.
Now as I always do I introduce an interesting topic here. With athleisure growing, a company like Outlier who basically started this shift with their bicycle influenced dress wear, is not even on the radar. I guess my point in discussing this is to say, fellas I know Nike and adidas are offering products at a better price, but check out Outlier and don’t feel bad if you’re still rocking skinny jeans instead of some retro tracksuits or joggers with your NMDs or Stan Smiths.