Global athleisure market to grow 25% in three years -- GlobalData

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 23, 2022

​​The unrelenting rise of the sport-meets-daywear market — something that was only exacerbated by the pandemic rather than being damaged by it — is set to continue with a 25% increase predicted as soon as 2025.

That's according to the analysts at GlobalData, who say that this will impact demand for more formal office clothing as consumers working from home in larger numbers than before the pandemic seek more comfortable athleisure alternatives.

GlobalData said two in five people globally have continued to work from home this year, so demand for athleisure has remained high. 

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But it's about more than current home-working habits and represents a mindset change among consumers with 55% saying that they’re still wearing such clothes for more than just sport activities.

And when workers do return to their neglected workplaces, the analysts expect “this ongoing casualisation will start to make its way into traditional offices”.

Louise Deglise-Favre, Apparel Analyst at GlobalData, said: “People have simply been able to get more wear out of athleisure clothing while working from home over the pandemic. Now, with hybrid working set to continue, people will still want to dress casually. All of this traction will help the sportswear market grow by an impressive 25.1% to $551 billion between 2021 and 2025.”

The firm’s latest Global Sportswear Market report reveals that a quarter of clothing sold in the first year of the pandemic (2020) comprised ‘sportswear’ pieces. While the share of sportswear is expected to decline slightly this year, as people switch back to more dressy items for social events, the switch to pre-pandemic norms for working hours won't be quite as noticeable.

It means sportswear will increase its share of the apparel market to an impressive 23.6% by 2025.