Why Spanx Is Breaking Into The Athleisure Market

Currently outstripping the growth of the wider apparel industry, athleisure has become a category of its own. Now, big brands from outside the heavily saturated athleisure market are also racing to exploit one of the most influential apparel categories of our time – with interesting results.

“This is no longer a trend – it is now a lifestyle that is too comfortable, for consumers of all ages, for it to go away,” says Marshal Cohen, Chief Industry Analyst at the NPD Group. And as a clothing category now said to be in the top ten for millennial spending; for flailing businesses, the market’s prospects are far too tempting to ignore.

One such example is Spanx. Expanding beyond its traditional undergarment business, the shapewear company is set to release a range of athleisure apparel featuring tanks, shorts and pants.

With a decline in sales for the overall shapewear market, the longstanding brand, which is employing the ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ philosophy, is fighting back against critics who have labelled shapewear obsolete.

“There are a lot of trends that are pushing shapewear down,” Cohen told NYMag. “Why buy underwear that’s uncomfortable when you can buy yoga pants which have got stretch to them and can make you look a little slimmer?” he said.

“The game has changed, the rules have changed, and the playing field has changed, and Spanx just doesn’t have the marquee brand power they once had,” he added.

Implementing technology used in the brand’s undergarment fabrics in order to infuse the athleisure range with the same shapes, founder Sara Blakely says the idea behind the new collection is to create comfort in everyday wear and meet growing demand from consumers.

“Spanx today is about options and celebrating all these options,” Blakely told CBS in a recent interview. “I have different consumers who want different things out of Spanx.”

Spanx’ foray into the athleisure market comes less than 12 months after appointing Jan Singer as Chief Executive. The former Head of Apparel for Nike has been keen to solve the brand’s predicament by looking at new solutions. But has the move come too late?

The athleisure market is highly saturated and very competitive, and with market leading brands ploughing resources into improving the function and form of their apparel, approaching the market from a different direction might be considered a more savvy strategy. Even Procter & Gamble are exploiting the explosion in activewear sales.

Highlighting the opportunities that exist for brands in other verticals, if they’re willing to innovate, the consumer goods company, which is reported to have experienced its biggest drop in quarterly sales in seven quarters, has announced the launch of a range of detergents; said to remove odors that embed themselves in the synthetic materials found in workout clothing.

The marketing campaign focuses on combatting “rebloom” – an odour that forms even after washing clothing worn in the gym – and is a clever way for the business to exploit the athleisure trend without straying from its core offering.

“We are seeing the sports apparel market growing, and that poses some challenges to the fabric care market. More laundry loads are being done with sports apparel than for basic denim and a good number of people are wearing athletic pants and tight-fitting, yet stylish athletic shirts each day. Hence, P&G sees an opportunity worth exploiting,” P&G spokeswoman Tracey Long told The Street.

Comfort, style and performance, have become the ubiquitous qualities associated with athleisure, and retaining a “like new” quality is at the forefront of research and development at Procter & Gamble when it comes to their clothing care products. They understand the relationship between the wearer and their clothes and they’re marketing their products accordingly, but can they convince consumers that typical detergents don’t have the power to clean synthetic materials as deeply?

For brands like Spanx and Procter & Gamble, the athleisure market is an attractive prospect for brand positioning.

“It’s hard to fathom how much more it can grow because it’s already grown so much. But as more and more consumers accept activewear as street wear, it will continue to keep growing,” says Cohen.

Big brands, from retailers to manufacturers, know that activewear is on the rise, and they all want a piece of the action. But while there’s still room for new players, inventing products that will drive the future of the market rather than follow its flow may be critical to success.