Looking back at other North American apparel, they are striving to be fancy beyond the 'body confidence' label. For example, the tennis skirt, which became popular last year, has become a piece that no brand is short of this year.
Since the beginning of March, sports and fitness brands have been in a passionate mood, launching new products that showcase their unique style and charm.
Skims, with its philosophy of 'showing off your body', has been selling out frequently with the launch of its out-and-out diva dresses back in 2023, with the rest of the warmth still lingering. This spring and summer, Skims once again captured the hearts of fitness girls, launched on March 14, skirt sets are more colorful styles are quickly sold out once listed. Meanwhile, lululemon, as the main sales force, not only launched new products such as shorts and jackets, but also pop-up skirts, which made customers sigh "I can't get enough of them". The strong performance of these two brands once again proved their unshakeable position in the sports and fitness market, and also reflected consumers' continued pursuit of high-quality, fashionable sports equipment.
In addition to Skims and lululemon, traditional brands such as Nike and adidas are also sparing no effort in laying out various sports lines and continuing to launch new products in multi-colored styles. From a variety of pullover jackets to original sweatshirts, there is a fashionable outfit for both men and women. Meanwhile, Andromeda has also shown new vitality in the field of women's apparel, saying goodbye to the black, white and grey of winter and turning to a series of spring colors, such as carnation peach, matcha green, garden purple and misty blue, encouraging people to wear colorful outfits in the spring and injecting a piece of vitality and energy into the season. These brands are not only focusing on the design and quality of their products, but are also innovating and catering to the fashion needs of consumers, bringing more choices and vitality to the sports and fitness equipment market.
GymShark, Bombshell, OnerActive and many more overseas brands continue to make their mark. Even if there are no new products for the time being, the colors of regular styles must be updated, and every brand will not miss the spring and summer heat in March.
How to break the boundary from the gym into the street is a breakthrough for sports brands to broaden the wearing scene and seek consumers.
Recent trends have shown that the God Skirt, launched by Skims last year, has gained attention for its unique design and wearability. Compared with the traditional 'easy to handle BM style', the Skims God Skirt has managed to reach the peak of the Little Red Book's aesthetic contempt chain with its ability to 'wear Skims skirts well'.
Nike has had a huge consumer base for many years, and has also gained a legion of fans because its brand line has always held a place in the fashion field, from skateboarding to basketball and various co-branded cultures.
With this year's spring/summer season just beginning in the fitness apparel space, will there be any new breakthroughs?
The new Chinese style that was still popular at the beginning of the year for the 'Dragon Element' addition is already in decline. Riding on the hot aftermath of Jialing's 100-pound weight loss, the lululemon workout clothes she wore brought another wave of heat.
As the spring/summer season has just begun, with the rising temperatures, brands are already gearing up for the next 'weight loss rush'.
Starting from last year, Skims has gradually emerged as a highly regarded brand, and has been going hand in hand with lululemon to aggressively capture market share. In addition to continuing its usual FitsEverybody thrust, Skims has made premium slouchy style its main core concept this spring/summer. The recent launch of a whole matching collection from underwear to outerwear, which came out on March 15, has generated an instant response, with several colors and sizes already sold out.
In addition to the big brands, there are many North American niche brands that show unique creativity and character in the sports and fitness market. These brands not only focus on skin exposure, but also have a unique take on fitness traces, bringing consumers more diverse options.
For example, Bombshell launched a one-piece flared pants called all in one in early March with a unique design that made people exclaim, "Who dares to wear that?" The unique design of the pants made people cry "who dares to wear them?", but such a bold attempt attracted the attention and orders of many netizens. In addition, brands such as GymShark and Oner Active have followed the rising sports craze by updating their regular styles with colorful color choices and introducing new purchasing options every day, catering to different consumer preferences and needs. The emergence of these niche brands has injected more innovation and vitality into the sports and fitness market, as well as providing consumers with more personalized wear options.
Continuing from last year's fashion statement, the 'Dopamine' color scheme still reigns supreme. Not just 'not outdated', the colors are bright, vibrant and energetic, and have been a part of every fitness brand's repertoire.
Every sports brand won't let go of the classic red, yellow and blue color scheme, even going so far as to break it down into moonstone blue, grape violet, garnet red, river lime, terra cotta brown and more.
But when you look at it more closely, color pushing the envelope is no longer the main gimmick of a product, much less one that impresses consumers. Rather, it has become as much of a must-have product attribute as functional segmentation.
Color gives more meaning to fitness - 'confidence, bravery, individuality, flair' - but it is also leading one to wonder what will be the next move for fitness brands to capture the market.
More than just fitness, 'streetwear' is the next frontier for women's sportswear.
"Streetwear" may be the next target for fitness brands.
How can we satisfy the fitness scene while attracting attention at citywalk? Athleisure, which began to gain popularity in the 2010s, is still in full swing.
lululemon from yoga clothing to wear tide clothing, and then in the past two years fire to become a street single product lululemon backpacks, handbags. White-collar workers in the North may be very busy and have not taken a few yoga classes, but they must have heard of lululemon.
For example, this spring and summer lululemon launched the Dance Studio work pants, lightweight fabric and pleated drawstring design, than wear to the gym, it must be more suitable for the weekend Citywalk.
And since Kim Kardashian co-founded SKIMS with the brand's CEO Jens Grede in 2019, Kardashian's own outfits have always maintained the 'sexy' and 'exaggerated' routes, showing off her clothes with her body, she has extended her 'dressing confidence' from Instagram to the street corners, so that if a sexy girl wearing her brand's divine dresses walks by on the side of the road, and if it happens to be bee-waisted and hip-hugging. If a sexy girl walks by the side of the road wearing one of her brand's fabulous dresses, if she happens to have a great waist and ass, she's sure to turn heads.
Especially for the fitness part of the body more important to the fitness people, Skims skirt has the characteristics of "solid color, tight, elastic, hip", almost cleverly knocked to the fitness girl's every heart good. Because the only way to wear it is to practice well.
It can be argued that Skims and lululemon are hugely popular not necessarily because of their superior fitness functionality over other fitness brands, but perhaps more related to their high level of everyday fashion attributes.
The high exposure and attention of the sports industry has been seen by the industry, and in order to be recognized by the public, the functionality of fitness clothing has become fundamental. Taking most of the new products of this spring as a reference, the fashion sensitivity and streetability have become a new criterion for fitness people to choose to buy.
It can also be said that when the fitness routine has been integrated into the public life, the functionality of the fitness clothing and the meal can be eaten, has become a necessary condition, then the meal on the table, it must be delicious.
Rihanna is the same as the Kardashians, and their sensitivity to the smell of sports and fitness allows them to actively participate in this field. 2014 Rihanna cooperated with PUMA to become the brand image spokesman and creative director of the women's series, and its personal participation in the design of the Puma muffin shoes in the global market has become popular and has been awarded the title of "the best shoes of the year" for many times.
The celebrity effect and the buying frenzy driven by the wearing fad can make fitness apparel cross the border and go out of the gym and into the streets and alleys.
But on the other hand, going too far with fashion can backfire. While one-shoulder sports bras and cross-hanging neck designs may still be described as beautiful waste, there is still no shortage of consumers flocking to them.
But this is the part that should be taken into account by fitness brands; too much pursuit of street cred is capitalizing on gimmicks. The positioning of the brand should always be precise, too much bias towards design sense, exaggerated and cumbersome design elements, the discomfort of wearing after a long period of time, will surely bring negative word-of-mouth effects after a brief consumer wave.
As people increasingly attaching importance to health and life quality, exercise has become a new lifestyle to balance the pace of life. The new rhythm of sports close-fitting fashion is followed by more and more consumers and insiders. The sport-tech boutique in INTERFILIERE Shanghai 2024 will showcase new fabrics, new technologies derived and appeared in intimate fashions under the impacts of different trends, so as to inspire the innovative and creative new trends of sport-tech fabrics.
INTERFILIÈRE SHANGHAI 2024 (October 15-16 | Shanghai Exhibition Center) will provide cutting-edge perspectives and resources of the global intimate fashion industry to help companies enhance their brand influence and accelerate business development in China and overseas markets.
INTERFILIERE Shanghai 2024
10月15-16日
October 15-16
Shanghai Exhibition Center
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