Jack Wills expands sportswear push with first men’s collection

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
May 10, 2017

British fashion retailer Jack Wills continues its push into the popular athleisure market with the launch of its first sportswear collection for men, complementing the women’s range launched in January.

The Jack Wills Sporting Goods range was created in London by the brand’s design to suit a variety of sport activities, from sprinting to spinning and from strength work to 5-a-side football.

"We launched our first sports collection for women in January and the response has been fantastic. Doing the same for men was an obvious next step, and is ideally timed with the global growth of athleisurewear,” said Jack Wills founder and CEO Peter Williams.

The collection includes a selection of athletic clothing such as the Alderton training hoodie, the long-sleeved Henworth top and the Haydon gym vest – all made from high performance technical fabric or gym-ready jersey.

The pieces were sourced by the company’s partner in Portugal, P&R Texteis, which specialises in technical sportswear and has developed product for thousands of Olympic athletes.

Jack Wills is not the first casualwear brand looking to cash in on the athleisure trend, which has driven sales of sportswear up by 42% over the past seven years to £204bn. Labels such as Topshop, Asos and Zara have already added performance-driven collections for a generation of consumers who are increasingly focusing on fitness and wellbeing.

Jack Wills’ men’s collection has launched at the brand’s stores in London’s Covent Garden and Soho, in Heathrow Terminal 3 and online.