27 September 2022, Mumbai:
The Post-Covid world witnessed a sea change in awareness and focus on health issues leading to the urban youth/millennium demographics embracing the workout clothes market category and only seeing its scope brightened up like never before.
The workout Clothes Market was valued at US$ 210.8 Billion in 2022 and is expected to hit US$ 384.8 Billion by 2032, clocking a 6.2% CAGR through 2032.
Workout clothes are also called gym apparel as the line is blurring between conventional gym clothing/ “Athleisure,”. Broadly this clothesline is designed & curated to functionally improve physical fitness/athletes’ performance through sports, active life, and yoga performance facilitating augmented body movement which clearly is not the case wearing normal apparel/clothing.
Frontrunners
A case in point is Adidas AG, Asics Corporation, Columbia Sportswear Company, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. Gap Inc., and Nike, Inc. are a bunch of marquee global iconic brands that have taken a big stride in this given category for the good showing of this segment.
Functionality
Let us now touch upon the functionality side of this clothing/apparel. The given apparel/clothing is typically characterized in short by it regulating body temperature management as it gathers momentum. Furthermore, remarkable product attributes and properties they offer in a limited sense are properties such as breathability, sweat absorption, static resistance, heat resistance, and chemical resistance we see such similarities in categories viz sports, active & sportswear and not be caught in a noise.
Market trends and forecasts
Product mass acceptance & its adoption of the same is expected to influence more and more people geographically pushing up the market size. Moreover, one of the mega trend unfoldings is the increased physical activity engagement experienced amongst the conscious youth indulged in physical activities overlooking the increased culture of WFH (Work from Home/Hybrid working) in the Giga economy. Besides it, elderly demographics indulging in fitness activities is a demand tailwind driving the workout clothes segment and enlargening its market opportunities.
Product line
The product range encompasses amongst others Polyester dominated segment entailing shorts, sweatshirts & hoodies, tank tops offering high-tech performance-augmenting fitness apparel/garments, workout gear for commoners and amateurs besides a preferred product line for professional athletes, and sportsmen alike.
Opportunities
Opportunities are limitless & initiatives like organic and inorganic growth techniques, such as new product launches galloping, alliances, partnerships, and R&D heft where the industry is investing millions of dollars for discoverability, and collaborations will only serve for the good. The sense one gets is that functional superiority cutting-edge attributable benefits like easy wash/fast-drying, stretch-elasticity, and enough resistance to wrinkles & chemicals help segment build muscles in the competitive landscape.
Threats
Being more of a lifestyle apparel/clothing segment what raised serious concerns was that black swan events like COVID19 leading to off & on lockdowns had dealt a body blow to this category resulting in a decrease/crash in sales trajectory.
Equally what can jettison its growth story is the malaise of counterfeit articles with a bit of overshoot which can have a killing effect on the category. Theoretically, the fear is overdone as a category is holding up well on its own as in effect it could be counterfeiting rise & not the Workout Clothes Market fall.
What is in the pipeline
PRODUCT LAUNCH:
As a good sign, if we were to look @ we have started to see a lot of activity in the air and a handful of following developments are only reflecting the shape of things Global sports brand PUMA debuted the Royal Challenger Bangalore (RCB) workout clothes market collection in September 2021.
Eastbay and Champs Sports announced the debut of a new garment line in September 2021.
COLLABORATION:
Kappa and Hyosung's collaboration in October 2020.
ACQUISITION:
Nike announced the purchase of Collect, a workout clothes statistics.
Key markets
The U.S. athletic apparel market is the lion-shareholder in the world; dominating this segment single-handedly & contributes to as high as 42.3% of total global sales. This phenomenon is partly out of the romanticization/ratchet-up of popular/fab sporting events, fuelling expansion at a rapid pace than otherwise.
Insight Edge
The uptick in this category and how is it catching its breath is on account of a steady rise in global disposable income with discrete spending. All these factors are driving up the growth and prospects.
A significant trade insight is that” the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region will eke out gains as in the futuristic growth drivers & is predicted to be the next big thing”.
The demand environment is pretty intact the downside of covid is now limited, improving the overall business & growth prospects.
Reading the tea leaves," Recessionary global worries & multiple pressures on the world economy only comes as in a dampener as global brands are watching the unfolding situation very closely trying to pencil in the downside to the business until macro-environment stabilizes"
Sustainable products made with organic cotton, companies using recycled polyester, and low/no environment-impact, non-toxic/non-hazardous dyes, auxiliaries are the way forward for the sustainable growth of this category.
(CREDITS: Future Market Insights)
