Athleisure and Lingerie Research
Delivered July 24, 2020. Contributor: Gail
Goals
To have a broad understanding of which category is larger, has more competitors, and has had better exits: athleisure or lingerie. An ideal response would also provide the consumer buying behavior of lingerie versus athleisure, along with direct to consumer (DTC) disruptors in each category, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in each category, the market size in each category, and the online penetration in each category.
Early Findings
- We were not provided a geographic focus in the chat transcript, so we are assuming a global focus. If a more targeted approach is desired, for example, the United States, this would have to be clearly communicated to us in any reply.
- After research, we discovered that "lingerie" is a vast and broad term and includes terms such as underwear and intimate wear,
Lingerie
- Today, underwear makes up 4% of womenswear products currently retailing online across the US and UK markets combined. This may seem small, but on a global scale lingerie is expected to hit $325.36 billion by 2025 according to Allied Market research.
- Across the United States and the United Kingdom, briefs make up the majority of panty styles. However, the US consumer is more invested in thongs when broken down by region. The UK is catching up though as it has increased the number of thongs in stock by 13% since 2018. Higher waist panties continue to be the preferred underwear cut of consumers. The number of these styles retailing has grown by 29% over the past two years, while hipster styles have dropped by 68%.
- Much like the beauty industry, a greater variety of shades fall under “nude” as more brands work on setting a new precedent for inclusivity across skin tones.
- "UK brand Nubian Skin, has emerged as a market leader. Favored by Beyonce and Lizzo, the brand offers a carefully curated collection of lingerie and hosiery to women of color. Its site includes a handy guide for women to shop from four tones (cafe au lait, cinnamon, caramel and berry) based on foundation shades. Nubian Skin recently expanded its offering, branching out into athleisure and men’s underwear and was also awarded £500,000 of promotional space across London’s transport network to challenge advertising’s “one-dimensional view of blackness.”
- Monki has emerged as a new player in this space in 2019, launching a new range of nude underwear in five skin tones paired with a campaign promoting messages of inclusivity and self-love.
- Consumer interest in shapewear piqued last year when Kim Kardashian West disrupted the market with her Skim’s collection.
- Emerging and cult brands of note include: Organic Basics, Boody, THINX, and Pact.
- The brand called Lively deliberately coined the term "leisurée" "because that is what Lively is doing—merging the best elements of lingerie, swim, and activewear."
Athleisure
- "An NPD study in August 2019 showed the number of women who shopped or bought a sports bra has grown to 45% in 2018 from 38% in 2015. “The perception that a bra ‘is sexy’ is much less important,” the study said."
- The dictionary-defined athleisure trend has led to the continued growth of companies like Nike and Lululemon that are doubling down on consumers’ increased health and wellness pursuits. "Major retailers from Amazon to Target also have rolled out their own athleisure lines."
- According to Adam Goldenberg, CEO of Los Angeles-based TechStyle Fashion Group, “The adoption of athleisure trend is here to stay and going to accelerate. It’s about “being more comfortable. There’s a trend toward wellness. We couldn’t sell leggings in France three years ago. But now it starts to pick up.”
- The global athleisure market was predicted to rise 9% in 2019, outpacing the total clothing and footwear market beyond 2023, according to data and analytics firm GlobalData. "Its study showed more than two-thirds of consumers wore the sport clothing they bought both for exercise and for eating out or shopping." “Consumer desire for a multifunctional wardrobe (is) set to drive the athleisure market,” the report said.
- According to this source, the athleisure market size was valued at $155.2 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $257.1 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 6.7% from 2019 to 2026.
- According to Grand View research, The global athleisure market size was valued at USD 300.0 billion in 2018. "Rising awareness regarding physical fitness and personal grooming among millennials is expected to be a key driving force. Moreover, apparel cultural shift in the workplace at a global level is projected to increase the use of athleisure over the forecast period."
Summary Of Our Early Findings Relevant To The Goals
- Our initial hour of research was spent ensuring that all the aspects of this very large research project was publicly available.
- While it appears market sizings for both categories are available, they are almost exclusively global in nature and they vary widely in their estimates. It would appear that only a paywalled source (which we do not have access to) would probably give the most accurate market size and growth. We are suggesting not pursuing this aspect of the research because of this factor.
- As discussed at the top of this document, a geographic focus in the chat transcript, so we are assuming a global focus. If a more targeted approach is desired, for example, the United States, this would have to be clearly communicated to us in any reply.
- Please select one or more of the options provided in the proposed scoping section below.
Proposed next steps:
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