| Vickie
At the end of the 19th century, with the prevalence of school sports in the United States, sports-style dress became a popular keyword among young people, which gave birth to the "Athleisure" style that combines sports and leisure. In recent years, "light sports" began to become the favorite of young fashion hipsters, major brands are also scrambling to launch light sports product lines, TOPBRAND reporters predict from products, crowds, marketing and other three aspects, what trends will young sports brands in 2022?
PART 1 Sports pieces go "cross-scene"
Image source: RAW.J.com
The pace of life is accelerating, the epidemic is repeated, and many white-collar workers will use office breaks or lunch breaks to go to the gym to exercise, and even have small fitness equipment in the office to exercise against the clock. The scenes of modern people's lives are also diverse, perhaps still in the morning meeting, in the afternoon to take the children to climb the mountain, and in the evening to go to the bar with friends.
This fragmented cross-scene lifestyle offers new opportunities for light sportswear.
RAW.J, a light sports brand that has been very popular in recent years, has positioned the brand as a "cross-scene sports fashion", combining functional sportswear and fashion design, so that urban people can switch freely with a set of equipment.
Their new product line includes sportswear, coats and suits with sports styles, giving consumers a lot of freedom to choose and match. Their sports suits add highly elastic fabric stitching on both sides of the sleeve elbows, maximizing the balance between fashion and zero restraint, and the color scheme and cut of the T-shirt are also full of fashion, and people will wear it directly after sports to socialize.
Another cross-scene light sportswear brand VOICE OF INSIDERS (VOI), founded in New York in 2019, has three main selling points: multi-scene, light function and neutrality. The brand focuses on "cross-scene light sports" in daily commuting, and the products include pure sports product lines and sports and leisure lines with mixed street elements, allowing people to seamlessly switch between multiple scenes of sports, leisure and life.
Part 2 sports pieces became the finishing touch in #ootd
Image source: Dior official website
The sports fashion editor of luxury e-commerce net-a-Porter believes that "only sports items with both sports functions and daily wear functions can meet the needs of more high-end consumers", which shows that sports items have become a dynamic highlighting element in fashion collocation.
In the 2022 luxury show, major brands have also added sports items to LOOK.
In addition to the iconic college-style coat and the Fair Isle knit shirt with CD Diamond Logo, the Dior 2022 Fall Menswear Collection Show also adds a lot of sports elements to the design, such as adding a hiking rope element to the classic saddle bag design, which is more dynamic and younger.
CELINE's big show designed a green sweatshirt suit with a cat heel shoe LOOK, seemingly ordinary sweatshirt fabric with sequins, exuding a low-key luxury texture, the collision of sweatshirt suit and cat heel shoes collided between retro and trendy sparks.
Light luxury brand LACOSTE strives to match the classics with retro sports pieces and bold contrast colors
Polo shirts have become another highlight on the streets of Paris Fashion Week.
From these runway frontiers, it is not difficult to see that the light sports items that can match the brilliance will surely attract more trend lovers in 2022, and may even become the key card for the brand to open the situation.
PART 3 Technology fabrics for comfort
Image source: LULULEMON official website
Although the appearance of clothing is very important, the functionality of light sportswear can still not be ignored, after all, it is necessary to wear to fitness, and if you want to ensure functionality, you need to work technology.
Successes such as LULULEMON, with patented LUON fabrics, Slivere scent anti-odor technology, etc., to give users soft and comfortable obedience, "wear like no wear" experience.
The national light sports brand MAIA ACTIVE, according to the pain point of "women's sports corset pads will move randomly", according to the Asian women's breasts, from the four aspects of fit cutting, fabric technology, color research, comfortable body feeling to accurately solve the problem, the launch of the integrated cup "no pad BRA". In the summer products, MAIA ACTIVE has done enough articles on the fabric, using THE MAIA LAB cooling technology fabric to launch "cool pants", "cool Tee" and other styles, this material can instantly take away the heat, the skin feel smooth and non-sticky.
Sneakers are a collection of high-tech categories. The sponsor of the Winter Olympics, ANTA, used the urban water-repellent upper process and instep sand and stone structure in the sneakers designed for the champions, as well as the adjustable and elastic BOA lace-up system, TPU shrapnel, support arch and stabilize the shoe body, and the use of double-layer Flashfoam flash technology to effectively provide cushioning when landing; these technologies will also be used in the future to add products to provide consumers with a better wearing experience.
PART 4 Demand for niche sports and their clothing began to heat up
With the audience's unprecedented attention to the Winter Olympics, ice and snow sports and collocations have become traffic secrets on social media, which also provides a successful template for tennis, golf apparel to enter the public.
According to relevant reports, in the next few years, including skiing, tennis, golf, outdoor and hiking and other niche sports games explosive development, which will inevitably be accompanied by the growth of corresponding sportswear, become a popular trend.
From last fall to winter, U.S. fashion e-commerce company Mada saw a 400 percent increase in skiwear sales. The company even revised the app to allow consumers to find ski clothes for the first time.
The Afterpay report shows that consumer spending on ski and snow merchants increased 10-fold in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to 2020. This number will increase as more brands appear in the space.
Whether on Ins and Xiaohongshu, typing "skiing" will jump out of tens of thousands of ski styling and photo teaching, and even the star Chen Weiting's fashion brand CARBONWAIT has also cooperated with sportswear brand Salomon to launch a limited edition ski suit, and the popularity of ski clothes among young people can be seen.
Golf and tennis apparel are also eager to get a piece of the light sports market. In addition to the historic Lacoste, Ralph Lauren and other brands are trying to expand the design of youth, and a new batch of high-end sports brands Casablanca, Alex Eagle Sporting Club and Manors focus on "fashion", designing styles that conform to the trend of fashion trends and are also popular among non-sports groups.
PART 5 Sustainable environmental protection is the new favorite
Image source: Allbirds official website
According to a United Nations survey, the fashion industry is one of the top three polluting industries. With the continuous improvement of people's understanding of environmental protection, environmentally friendly fabrics have also become one of the concerns of consumers.
According to a Survey by Nosto, 73% of consumers want brands to use recyclable materials, which means that products that are beneficial for sustainability are increasingly favored by more consumers. In its Millennial vs. Gen Z Comparative Observation Report, PwC mentioned that about 37% of consumers are willing to spend more money on more "responsible" products, whether it is the brand's reputation for a more social responsibility in terms of social life and livelihood, or the environmental concern in the product production process.
The major consumers of light sportswear and environmentalists have a high overlap rate, and the concept of many light sports brands also contains the pursuit of sustainability, and in 2022, the Light Sports Games will put the "sustainability and environmental protection" of fabrics on the agenda.
Niyama Sol believes that good clothing should not only make the person wearing it comfortable and powerful, but also the environment. So in the brand's sports leggings fabric, recycled plastic water bottles account for up to 86%, these clothes will be more easily degraded in the soil, degraded substances will even have benefits for plants.
Allbirds, a popular footwear brand in Silicon Valley, also adheres to environmentalism, and their shoe sole material Sweetfoams has been developed in two years, replacing the oil smelting raw materials used in traditional EVA soles with sugarcane raw materials, which not only has little pollution to the environment, but also has a higher level of comfort.
PART 6 Focuses on the sports scenes of people with special needs
Image source: Athleta's official website
With the all-round penetration of the sports health industry, more and more people have begun to exercise, and the consumer and consumer demand for light sports products has become more and more refined.
For example, pregnant women, according to the 2020 study of the consumption of pregnant women on the parenting network, one in five pregnant mothers accept pregnancy exercise and are willing to spend for it. For light sports brands, the pregnant women group is also a market that cannot be ignored.
Some light sports brands have begun to study and try this market. Australian brand LORNA JANE released the MATERNITY series of pregnancy sportswear in May 21, including nursing underwear and gym pants, etc., which is committed to allowing pregnant mothers to maintain their figure and have self-confidence while having health. In 2014, The brand Cake Maternity developed and launched a nursing sports bra that can be applied to high-intensity sports, which provides convenience for pregnant women with more professional sports needs.
Gap has launched Athleta, a lightweight sports brand designed for plus-size women, where even women with DD cups can find comfortable and beautiful sportswear, and recently the brand is also developing more casual coats, swimwear, cool pajamas and more.
Another brand that takes care of different body groups is The Gillfriend Collective, their products span a wide range of sizes, whether it is a petite girl or a plump sister can find comfortable and fit sports equipment here, and all the raw materials of this brand's products are from plastic water bottles and discarded fishing nets recycled from the ocean, which is very environmentally friendly, allowing girls to love their own and love the world of life at the same time.
PART 7 Domestic light sports brand has broken the game
Looking back at 2021, domestic light sportswear has gained a full harvest in the market, and in 2022, they are likely to "go further". Compared with foreign light sports brands with money, technology and fame, domestic brands seem to have limited advantages, but in fact, they are full of opportunities.
One of the major advantages of domestic light sports brands is that they have a more comprehensive understanding of the segmented consumer groups and needs, and the cost performance is more competitive. From the price-sensitive pursuit of style Z era, to the pursuit of quality and cost-effective mature consumers, and then to the pursuit of personality and function of high-end consumers, domestic brands can find consumer preferences and pain points for products from the trend of social media, and can respond quickly, the speed of payment is fast, the price is more moderate, and there is a strong speed advantage for consumers.
Technically, in addition to many brands are stepping up the research and development of their own patented technology, many brands will also cooperate with foreign mature suppliers, such as ANTA, FILA and other brands to cooperate with high-tech material supplier DuPont, not only in the use of sustainable concept of high-performance materials in the product, but also cooperate in the development of 2020 A-CHILL TOUCH cool technology fabrics, improve the quality of sportswear, these innovative products have also become ANTA's "drainage tool".
PART 8 Luxury brands crossover wellness movement is in the air
Collaborations between sports brands and luxury goods are not uncommon, with Maison Margiela co-branding with Salomon, Miu Miu and New Balance, Loewe and up-and-coming sports brand On launching co-branded models... This and the "wind of luxury" also blew on light sports.
First, Gucci, Fendi, MaxMara and other major brands have launched light sports categories: such as leggings (Leggings), which are most popular in social networks, exclusive printed designs, bright colors, and can take into account the different needs of going out and light sports, which also provides more choices for consumers with certain spending power.
In addition to the unique design of clothing, luxury brands will also cooperate with some sports brands with mature science and technology to help them design high-performance products. As early as 1969, luxury brand Prada had completed its first joint collaboration with Adidas, introducing the iconic Superstar sneakers, and Prada's new bowling bag for Adidas, which combined the classic silhouette of Prada's handbag with the practical features of the Adidas sports bag. Both products are made in pure white with black details, and the distinctive style is clear, fully embodying the origin of the Prada for adidas collection.
PART 9 Pluralistic and inclusive emotional communication
Image source: lululemon official website
It is not easy to face their bodies calmly, and with the development of the body, women are more likely to be subjected to more cruel physical humiliation: "airfields, tanks, big chests and no brains, etc." "But with the continuous awakening of women's awareness of equal rights in recent years, refusing to humiliate themselves and facing themselves has become a new trend of thought."
In April 2021, Canadian yoga brand Lululemon announced its newest ambassador, Mirna Valerio, the brand's first Plus Plus Currency Ambassador. The model display chart is no longer a single body shape, which also provides better visual choice services for consumers of different sizes. The brand is committed to constantly exploring the inclusivity, diversity, fairness and more of the brand.
MAIA ACTIVE uses the perspective of "girl cheerleaders" in its publicity, not as a high-demand "coach", but as a partner to accompany and tolerate women's growth, which embodies the soft power, that is, the respect that urban women need, and the values that the brand and products have always adhered to. From this, it is not difficult to see that when consumers consume light sports products, the respectful and inclusive communication information is likely to impress them as a "value brand".
PART 10 Offline experience + NFT, experience and fresh coexist
Image source: RTFKT official website
Experience has always been an important part of consumers' willingness to buy, and it is even more important for light sports brands that "provide a better life".
In 2019, Lululemon opened his first experience store next to Chicago's Lincoln Park. In the name of healthy life, it is logical to move light food restaurants, fitness spaces, and meditation rooms into the store, so that consumers can experience the lifestyle advocated by the brand and become its loyal fans after the experience.
The marketing "battlefield" of sports brands is not only offline, but also online marketing has entered a new chapter with the rise of the metacosm
Nike, which has a lot of money, first spent a huge amount of $200 million to acquire the virtual sneaker company RTFKT, and then opened a virtual large flagship store Nikeland on the game platform Roblox, where users can parkour, shop, repair parks, and use the gold coins they have won to buy virtual goods... Of course, if you like which product, there will also be a purchase link to place an order directly.
Puma added an eth after the name PUMA on Twitter, which industry insiders analyzed, which is a signal for Puma to explore the world of NFTs.
At this stage, brands that focus on light sports such as Lululemon have not yet had plans to flow out of the meta-universe, but I believe that they will also create their own online virtual space in the future.
tail
With people's pursuit of health and vitality, the Light Games have become more and more people's life choices, the market potential is huge, in such a broad market, only by grasping the segmentation needs of the subdivision of the population, based on products, and exerting efforts on the brand, can we achieve results.
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