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All about athleisure

  • Writer: Steffi
    Steffi
  • Dec 17, 2019
  • 2 min read

Updated: Jun 9, 2020

Welcome to this blog series all about athleisure - AKA leggings, trainers and everything in between! I'm currently exploring fashion communications and chose to focus this series on the athleisure industry and fashion promotional tools that differentiate brands. As an athlete, employee of Sweaty Betty and avid Instagrammer, I have been immersed in this industry, which sparked an interest to explore how brands are reaching their audiences.


Figure 1: Sweaty Betty, own image, 2019

Figure 2: Hiking in activewear, own image, 2019

I find myself opting for gym wear almost everyday and as I look around me, it is difficult to ignore the sight of brightly coloured leggings everywhere - from coffee shops to yoga studios. With society becoming less formalised, casual wear is more widely accepted and stylised (A Medium Corporation, 2018). This indicates that athleisure is a trend affecting the late majority and an industry rich in information.


There are several reasons for the rise in athleisure wear. Firstly, there are technological developments that have enabled more flexible, durable and washable designs, superior to other materials. From the 1990s onwards, there has been an increasing interest in the concept of holistic health and well-being, driven by the millennial demographic. This is carried out through a rise in alternative remedies and fitness regimes like organic food and yoga, demonstrating a clear consumer shift (Higham, 2009, p.13). The wellness industry has created an area for conspicuous consumption and what Thornstein Veblen described as, products that denote status like "extremely healthy person" (Thompson, 2018). Social media has accelerated this movement, with influencers promoting the gym as a lifestyle, as opposed to a hobby (Pretro, 2015), which has been capitalised on by brands.


Figures 3-5: Athleisure outfits, Pinterest, 2019


The brands that I have explored share commonalties in their use of promotional tools. There is a clear belief amongst marketers that millennials enjoy a sense of community and self-identity through a brand and so share this as an objective for their promotional activities. The use of pop-up events to connect with customers, social media to leverage the power of the consumer and ambassadors to endorse the products, have proven to be popular promotional tools for athleisure brands.


Although analysts may query the trend as a fad, statistics indicate that athleisure has longevity. According to research by the NPD group, consumer spending across the U.S on apparel, footwear and accessories rose by 1% between 2013 and 2014, attributable to a $2 billion increase in activewear sales (Petro, 2015). Furthermore, sportswear goods in the U.K were up 6% between 2015 and 2016. These statistics strongly suggest there is a rise in the the market and call for the investigation as to how brands are responding to this.


I hope you enjoy the read, Stefanie


References

A Medium Coporation. (2018). The Birth, Rise & The Future of Ahtleisure [online] available from: https://medium.com/@activeway/the-birth-the-rise-the-future-of-athleisure-69702c1d6863[accessed 08/11/2019]



Pretro, G. Forbes. (2015). Lululemon, Nike and The Rise of ‘Athleisure’ [online] available from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregpetro/2015/09/16/lululemon-nike-and-the-rise-of-athleisure/#9b8e40437c82[accessed 08/11/2019]


Thompson, D. (2018). The Atalantic, Everything you wear is athleisure [online] Available from: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/bicycle-bloomers-yoga-pants-how-sports-shaped-modern-fashion/574081/ [accessed 08/11/2019]


List of figures

Figure 1: Sweaty Betty, own image, 2019


Figure 2: Hiking in activewear, own image, 2019






 
 
 

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