‘Athleisure’ fashion spares women the choice between style and comfort
Sportswear brands such as Nike and Adidas are teaming up with fashion designers, while traditional fashion retailers are releasing athletic apparel that can be worn outside the gym
With boutique fitness studios, healthy restaurants, detox programmes, supplement stores and personal trainers now a dime a dozen in the city, it’s obvious that Hong Kong is in a “healthy lifestyle” craze. And the trend for stylish sportswear is shooting skyward.
The growing demand from women for functional and fashionable athletic apparel has created a new segment in the sportswear industry dubbed “athleisure” and traditional sportswear brands are vying for a piece of the pie.
Just as fashion designers Tory Burch and Alexander Wang have entered the activewear sector, traditional activewear brands are moving into the fashion sector. Online retailers are following suit: Net-a-Porter has more than 65 brands in the sports section of its site and ShopBop has over 45 brands in its activewear section.
Nike, Adidas and Lululemon are three brands spearheading the trend.
Nike has been the most successful with the move from the gym to the catwalk. There’s been a visible strategic merging of fashion and sportswear since October 2014, when the brand held a catwalk show as part of its “Women’s Innovation Summit” featuring models Joan Smalls and Karlie Kloss as well as professional athletes and ambassadors.
At the end of that year, Nike opened a women-only store in Shanghai, the first of its kind in Asia. The reason for the added focus on the female market was revealed in late October 2015 when chief executive officer Mark Parker said that the company expected revenue from women’s fitness to nearly double in the next five years from US$5.7 billion to more than US$11 billion.