More people are incorporating fitness into their lives, which leads to increased demand.
Since their 1980s glory, leggings have seen sporadic return to fashion spotlights. But this year, they are making their greatest comeback.
Asos, an online retailer with 1,021 styles, announced this week that its sales of branded styles has increased by more than 180% year-on-year. It has also sold 95% more leggings in 2021 than it did last year.
According to Lyst’s fashion search engine, leggings are one of the most searched for items in the world, with 430,000 searches per month.
According to Vanessa Spence (design director at Asos), the increased demand is due to more people including fitness into their daily lives and wanting to make a fashion statement. Prices for the item range between PS4 and PS300.
Spence stated that Asos customers want a product that expresses them. Our wide range of products includes printed styles as well as bright colours. Consumers have realized that activewear isn’t a chore. It’s something they enjoy doing. Leggings make it easy to ‘on the go’ whether you’re running, going to class, or just relaxing at home after a run.
Kim Kardashian and Sienna Miller have been seen wearing them while on errands. Zara, a high-street favorite, has styled many of her new-season dresses with leggings underneath.
Catwalk brands are following the trend this season. Gucci, Balenciaga, and Dolce & Gabbana is introducing stirrup leggings back to their wardrobe vocabulary. Richard Quinn’s, Marine Serre, and Burberry’s styles have attached feet that look like tights.
“Leggings continue to be the most popular category within our activewear studio and our buy has increased each season,” said Natalie Kingham, the fashion buying director at Matchesfashion.com where prices range from PS180 for metallic stretch-satin leggings by Junya Watanabe to PS1,380 for a leather style by Givenchy. She said customers wanted leggings that they could wear to the gym and to dinner with friends. Therefore, she wanted leggings that were stylish while still being practical.
Although runway prices might make some cringe, the average consumer’s purse strings is apparently much looser than what they are purchasing. Lyst reports that the average cost of a pair leggings that aren’t just activewear has increased 49% from PS68 to PlayStation101.
Leggings are back in fashion, which is fueling a greater demand for sport-leisure wear. Forbes reported that performance-oriented footwear was outselling sport-leisure trainers in a recent study by NPD Group. It seems that leggings are the latest product to confirm this category’s upward trend.
Matt Powell, NPD’s chief economist, said that he is often asked if the bubble surrounding leisure will burst anytime soon. “Athleisure rules, and the lines between athletic shoes and casual shoes continue to blur. This trend must be fed by retailers and brands.”
Lyst might have an answer for you: In the last month, Lyst has seen the word “meggings”, which is a portmanteau of men’s leggings and searched more than 500 times.
