The golden age of sportswear

After a record 2021, athleisure continues to grow and not show signs of slowing down

In early 2021, we spoke about athleisure for the first time, presenting it like one of the possible trends for the year. Today, we can say that it was an accurate prediction since the sector continues to grow in double digits and all talk now is about the golden age of sportswear.

Sportwear according to GlobalData: +25% in three years

In 2025, the weight of sports fashion should reach 23.6% of the global market, a turnover of 551 billion dollars. The forecast comes from the consulting firm GlobalData, which estimates that athleisure will grow by 25.1% during the next three years. This shift in consumer preferences toward casual fashion has clearly contributed to this success.

Also, according to the GlobalData report, two out of five people all over the world are, in fact, still working remotely. “Hybrid work will remain part of people’s routine, as they continue to dress casual when they do not go to the office”, Louise Deglise-Favre, Associate Analyst of the company emphasizes in this regard.

The McKinsey report: the global market of sportswear toward 400 billion in revenue

“The new normal is here”: this is the title of the recent analysis in which McKinsey, too, declares the boom in sportswear. The study describes how casual clothing has generated profits higher than average also during the pandemic. In 2020, despite the general decrease in consumption, many key industry figures have increased their sales by over 15%. Now, the market should grow by 8-10% per year until 2025, going from 295 billion euro in 2021 to 395 billion by the next three years.

The trend of purchasing casual clothing has characterized the months of lockdown, to then remain constant. “The last two years were for many of us a competitive sport: this is the new reality. We experienced a great change comparable to the 1920s when Coco Chanel freed women from corsets”, David Allemann, co-founder of the Swiss sports company, On, declared in the report.

Sports items on the rise both in Italy and China

Our country is certainly not immune to this positive trend. According to the data released by Assosport, national association that brings together 120 producers of sports clothing, 2021 promised to grow by 8.4% over 2020, for a combined turnover of 12.2 billion euro. An increase expected also in 2022 (+5.6%), with a total value of the industry that reaches 12.9 billion euro (+2% compared to pre-Covid times).

Lastly, this trend has also rubbed off on China, where the odd phenomenon of the rise of “homemade” brands stands out. The sports clothing brand, Anta Sports has for example published its data in late March, showing that revenue in 2021 reached 49.3 billion yuan, with an increase of 38.9% annually. A success driven by the young generations, won over by hooded sweatshirts with characters in the local language, coats covered with tiger stripes and shoes with traditional floral motifs.

The last two years have basically seen the confirmation of new trends, destined to remain over time and change our habits. A context to be interpreted for which Bizeta has all the necessary technological instruments.