The ‘Athleisure’ trend that has given rise to women donning comfortable yoga pants and leggings for daily wear has resulted in denim sales plummeting. In the US, denim sales dropped 6 per cent last year, a significant decrease, while the sale for yoga pants and other active-wear increased by 7 per cent to US $ 33.6 billion. Nonetheless, experts believe that there is nothing that can match denim’s versatility and popularity, which the retailers are cashing on through the new high waist, faded and relaxed vintage denims.
Although the shift to ‘Athleisure’ clothing has been witnessed for a long time, it really got pronounced with comfort becoming more important for consumers. Retailers such as Macy’s, Foot Locker, Gap, Old Navy, and Under Armour have been propelling sales due to Americans wearing ‘workout’ wear almost everywhere. In order to take advantage of this trend, Gap increased the number of Athleta stores (expected to cross 100), which are showing good sales while Urban Outfitters, Macy’s and many other retailers are pushing deeper into this category. “A 6 per cent drop may not seem like much, but it’s rare for denim to take such a dramatic drop. It’s a commodity business; we buy it and replenish it all the time. Does this mean it’s the end of denims? No, not likely,” said Marshal Cohen, Chief Industry Analyst of the NPD Group.
Lately, vintage denims including high waist, relaxed and faded, inspired by the Levi’s classic 501s are making their own place in the market, which is currently being ruled by workout wear and skinny jeans. The denim pendulum is swinging back towards throwback vintage denims which are being adorned by many women on the leading edge of the fashion circle. In the past 12 months ending in June, sales of women’s pants have grown due to this new looser, norm core-inspired denim in the market. “Fashion denim is cyclical. Currently, mid and high-waist denim styles are trending, in addition to soft pants. Denim is still a dominant category for us at Gap and Old Navy, and we are committed to continuous innovation,” said Edie Kissko, Spokeswoman, Gap.
Retailers are tapping onto this new breed of consumers who prefer comfort over fashion by providing denims in vintage styles such as high rise, boot cut, straight leg, etc. Urban Outfitters’ Urban Renewal website sells decade old denims, while Levi’s has taken note of the demand for these styles; and in January, the company will introduce slightly narrowed but not so skinny leg denim. Other denim brands are also tapping into the potential of this market such as ASOS, Zara and Citizen of Humanity, offering premium vintage collection along with slouchy boyfriend fits. Retailers are striking a balance between vintage and new denims, with the jeans being priced at the same price point as skinny and spandex-boosted denims.
In order to counter the growing influx of workout wear, apart from vintage denims, retailers are also coming up with fresh ideas. VF Corp. has noted the decline and is setting up a think-tank to come up with other distinctive ways of using denims for which it will soon open a ‘global denim innovation centre’ to counter the denim doldrums. “Lee, with a 60:40 ratio of women-to-men sales, has suffered a decline of about 15 per cent in the US. But, interestingly Wrangler with only 20 per cent of revenue coming from women’s category saw a single-digit increase in the Americas. This is due to the ongoing unfavourable women’s denim trend,” told Scott Baxter, Head of VF Corp’s Denim business. According to Piper Jaffray’s bi-annual ‘Taking stock of Teens’ survey, it was found that over the last two years, the preferences of teen girls has shifted from Levi’s Guess and American Eagle towards athletic names such as Nike, Lululemon, Athleta, Urban Outfitters and Victoria’s Secret.
Increasingly, denim retailers are fighting to turnaround their sales, through innovation and new styles to combat competition from comfort clothing. A market which depends on consumer preferences is interestingly seeing a shift towards comfort, but it remains to be seen whether denims can face the brunt of it. “The risk for retailers is that the ‘athleisure’ love affair could have a lasting effect. This trend caught the denim makers by surprise because they have never really seen it before. Trends today don’t come and go, they come and linger. So if the consumer has migrated away from denim, it’s going to be very hard to win them back,” concludes Marshal.
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