Staying Home & Staying Active: The Pandemic and the Athleisure Market
Written by: Erin Abramowicz
The pandemic brought about many changes in the world as we know it. It marked a low point for many industries, and the fashion industry was no exception. The pandemic caused a 20 percent decline in fashion industry revenue (Amed et al.). Many once-thriving, popular companies such as Neiman Marcus, J. Crew, and Men’s Warehouse ended up filing for bankruptcy (Schmidt, Sarah) However, not all players in the fashion industry took a hit. Athleisure sales boomed. According to True Fit, athleisure sales jumped 84 percent since the beginning of the pandemic (Bringé, Allison). The pandemic sparked an incredible amount of growth in the athleisure market, so much so that it has been projected to grow $153.02 billion by 2025 (Schmidt, Sarah) But how was this able to be achieved?
Athleisure has always been a popular style, but the start of the pandemic marked a change in the way we went about our everyday lives. More people than ever were working from home and taking classes online, often meeting via video messaging platforms such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Some classes were asynchronous, relying entirely on pre-recorded lectures or textbooks. Social distancing requirements placed a strain on our social lives. Social media, text messaging, phone calls, and FaceTime replaced in-person meet ups. People were forced to postpone celebrations for their milestone events such as weddings, graduation and birthday parties, and school dances to comply with the newest safety measures.
As lifestyle habits changed, so did consumption choices. The amount of free time people had increased and the need to purchase professional and formal clothing decreased. Working from home, people no longer needed to invest in business casual styles. Sweatpants replaced trousers and hoodies became the new blazer. Comfort became a priority. With newfound freetime, people were able to take up new hobbies that allowed them to remain at home. Others sought to adopt a healthier lifestyle in the midst of a health crisis by incorporating exercise into their daily routines. It is no wonder then that companies such as Neiman Marcus, J. Crew, and Men’s Warehouse suffered while things looked very different for athleisure retailers.
After having launched just two months before the start of the pandemic, Target’s athletic wear line, All In Motion, reportedly hit $1 billion in sales in its first year (Ochwat, Dan). Other brands such as Nike, Lululemon, and New Balance saw increases in their Media Impact Values — an algorithm developed by Launchmetrics used to calculate the value of influencer marketing actions on a brand’s image (“Decoding Media Impact Value”). In 2020, their Media Impact Values increased by 15 percent, 22 percent, and 70 percent respectively (Bringé, Allison). While these companies have been lucky enough to find success amid the pandemic, life is slowly returning to a pre-pandemic state.
As consumers find more reasons to leave their homes, it will be reflected in their clothing choices. Slowly and surely business casual and formal attire are finding and will continue to find their way back into people’s closets as more jobs, classes, and events move back to an in-person setting. It will be crucial for companies to diversify their inventory as the demand for new clothing to match the new, recovering lifestyles of consumers rises (Amed et al.). The future looks brighter for the formal wear companies that lost business during the pandemic. Nonetheless, it is unlikely that athleisure will go anywhere, especially considering the athleisure trend is nothing new. The pandemic simply gave it a surprising avenue for growth.
Sources:
https://blog.marketresearch.com/4-top-apparel-industry-trends-to-watch-in-2020
https://storebrands.com/targets-all-motion-celebrates-one-year-1b
https://www.launchmetrics.com/resources/blog/decoding-media-impact-value
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion