According to an article from QZ, 2016 would have been one of the fashion industry’s least profitable years ever, were it not for active wear.
Between consumer spending shifting toward experiences, China’s economy slowing, and the uncertainty caused by Brexit and Donald Trump’s presidency, clothing sales rose only 3.8% worldwide in 2016 – the sector’s weakest growth since the 2008 economic crisis.
However, that number would have been much worse if not for the popularity of performance sportswear, and the “sports-inspired” category (meaning clothes that you could wear to the gym, but probably wouldn’t).
And while there have been some reports of the active wear trend starting to slow, recently released figures from the research firm, Euromonitor, show that the category still grew 6%, which is above the average of every other apparel category, except for footwear, which grew 10% thanks to the continued popularity of casual sneakers across global markets.
You can read more about it at QZ.
