For decades the world of sports apparel was dominated by a few big names — Nike, Adidas, Puma — with newer upstarts like Under Armour and Gap Inc.’s Athleta chipping away, slightly, at their dominance. But in the last decade, these global powerhouses all have struggled to maintain their position as consumers’ athletic apparel go-to. Scandals, failed attempts at modernization, uninspired product offerings and bloated balance sheets have created an environment ripe for disruption.
Sensing the opportunity, a new class of brands has entered the ring, and along with them a new term has entered the lexicon — “athleisure.” Unlike their forebears, brands such as Lululemon, and more recently Fabletics and Alo Yoga, all started with a focus on women first, although all have since expanded into men’s. (Fellow newcomer Vuori stands out for going the opposite direction, debuting with men’s and then quickly expanding to women’s).
The battleground product is the women’s legging, and in this regard the offerings can tend to blur together. All the competitors have similar price points and are following similar playbooks, with appeals based on comfort and performance along with a healthy side offering of “community” via events, social media outreach, fitness classes and content.
One thing is clear — this new cohort of athletic apparel competitors has been hugely successful in capturing the zeitgeist of the more casual post-pandemic fashion era, where joggers are a perfectly acceptable form of officewear and the functional demand for fashion is no longer “day-to-night” but “gym-to-office.”
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The Battle for Market Share
The legacy leaders in sports apparel have taken notice, as evidenced by moves such as Nike’s high-profile new activewear partnership with Kim Kardashian’s trendy Skims brand. And the big-name brands still hold the title when it comes to market share, with only Lululemon offering any real threat at the moment.
Spending data from Earnest Analytics shows Lululemon capturing the second-biggest chunk of monthly athleisure spending in the U.S. (21.2%), trumped only by Nike’s 31.6%. The other competitors’ share is comparatively miniscule: Athleta 4.4%, Fabletics 4.4%, Vuori 2.9%, Alo Yoga 1.3%.
But as Nike is well aware, the bigger you grow the harder you can fall, and Lululemon has been facing pressure on two fronts in recent years: viral yogawear upstarts on one side and the growing popularity of dupe culture on the other.
The ultimate test may lie in the answer to a question CNBC’s Sara Eisen posed to Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald at the 2025 NRF Big Show: “How many leggings does one women really need?” His answer: “A lot.”
While that answer might be a bit self-serving, it does seem to carry the ring of truth: the rampant growth of athleisure shows no signs of slowing. After topping $358 billion in 2023, the global athleisure market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 9.3% through 2030, according to Grandview Research.
That makes winning in this sector a big prize, and one that a growing number of brands are chasing, so Retail TouchPoints took a deeper look at some of the newer entrants in the space to suss out what will separate the winners from the losers in this increasingly pitched battle.
Lululemon – The Reigning Champ
- Founded: 1998
- Public: Yes, IPO in 2007
- 2023 annual revenue: $9.6 billion (estimated $10.5 billion in 2024)
- Legging Price Point: $98
- Number of stores globally: 749 (as of Q3 2024, ended Oct. 27, 2024)
- Categories: Women’s, men’s, accessories, footwear
Differentiators: First-mover advantage, trusted quality, brand recognition
Potential Weaknesses: Stagnation in design innovation, loss of favor among trendsetters
When Lululemon first entered the picture 27 years ago it was the disruptor; now it is the leader being disrupted. Nearly every other player in the world of athleisure looks to Lululemon as its prime target, which places pressure on the brand but also speaks to its ongoing advantages.
Lululemon has a significantly larger store footprint than newcomers in the space, bigger market share and more established brand recognition, and this is something that CEO McDonald intends to double down on through continued international expansion. China, where the brand now has 140 stores, making it Lululemon’s second-largest market, will be a particular focus. At the NRF Big Show, McDonald promised many more stores in China, the U.S. and around the world as part of his strategy to double its current business.
As far as competitors go, McDonald said the company’s “obsession around innovation” will keep it in good stead: “I find those who are Lululemon guests get it, and our opportunity is always to get more guests into the product because we feel once they try it, they will understand,” McDonald said at the event. “It really is rooted in how we look to innovate. It begins with, what is the activity the guest is doing and how they want to feel — that can be through the fabric, the functionality — those are the basic ingredients. And then we have a unique way in which we build high-performance, high-style, very versatile apparel you can wear to and from the gym. It’s endless, the opportunity for us to keep innovating and creating product for our guests.”
Furthermore, McDonald doesn’t see this as a zero-sum game: “We grew market share in the Q3 period in the premium athletic category, but there’s a lot of share that Lululemon doesn’t have and we continue to see an opportunity to get a piece of,” he said. “But [our competitors’] growth and success isn’t coming at the expense of our success and our growth. I believe the brands are differentiated enough. We’ve never had 100% of our guests’ wardrobe. I’d love to have that, but the reality is there’s always been room in the wardrobe for competitors, and there’s a lot of share with global incumbents out there that I think all of us are benefiting from.”
One area where the brand seems to be lagging behind newer entrants is in the more ephemeral sphere of online buzz. Comparable sales in the Americas were flat in Q2 2024 (which ended April 28, 2024), which the company said was largely the result of a miscalculation in the colorways and sizes it carried, a sign that the brand is sometimes finding itself out of step with the trends of the moment. In another product misstep, Lululemon pulled its new Breezethrough leggings after repeated complaints about an unflattering fit.
Failure to release a steady roster of popular new designs can have an outsized impact in a category where purchases by regular consumers are based much more on “want” than “need.”
Vuori – The Trendsetting Challenger
- Founded: 2015
- Public: No
- Annual revenue: Estimated at around $1 billion; company valued at $5.5 billion in 2024 following most recent investment round
- Legging Price Point: $98
- Number of stores globally: ~85 with plans for 100+ by end of 2026
- Categories: Women’s, men’s, accessories
Differentiator: Standout softness combined with versatile style
Potential Weakness: Maintaining product freshness as competitive products challenge its core value prop
Vuori skyrocketed to popularity with the release of its trendy, incredibly soft men’s joggers, and quickly followed that success with similarly comfortable and stylish offerings for women in a range of fitness categories.
In a signal of its ongoing success, Vuori announced an $825 million investment round in November 2024 led by General Atlantic and Stripes, bringing the brand’s valuation to a staggering $5.5 billion.
“Vuori competes on a differentiated product, a differentiated brand, a differentiated store experience, differentiated materials,” the company’s CEO and Founder Joe Kudla told CNBC. “If you were to just survey our customer base [and ask], ‘Why is Vuori so special?’ They would tell you it’s because of our product, it’s because of the comfort, the textile, the fabrics we work with and the fit. We are all about product, product, product, and that’s ultimately what results in great performance in our industry.”
This was confirmed by Chris Carey, a partner at Stripes, which led the recent round of funding. He told the New York Times: “Vuori’s product strength was validated by our consumer research. Vuori has the highest net promoter score amongst its peers in the athleisure space, and is the highest rated on fit, performance and comfort.”
While Vuori’s product has propelled it to its current heights, it’s not clear how long the company will be able to perch on that particular pedestal, as nearly all its competitors have now released products clearly aimed at mimicking the brand’s signature softness. As it looks to future growth, Vuori is focused on community-building and international expansion, but just as with Lululemon, product innovation will be critical to maintaining its edge.
“Our vision is to inspire happiness, so what we’re working on at Vuori is making the best product possible to inspire and motivate our customers to really live healthy lives,” Catherine Pike, Vuori’s VP of Retail told Retail TouchPoints in 2021. “It’s not just about the clothing, but it’s about the things that come along with it,” she added mentioning the brand’s ACTV Club classes, educational podcasts and support of nonprofits. “All of these things go beyond the wonderful, amazing product and [allow us to connect] on a deeper level than just clothing, which I think is really the essence of the brand and our culture.”
Alo Yoga – The Sleeper Star
- Founded: 2007
- Public: No
- 2024 annual revenue: Estimated at around $250 million
- Legging price point: $128
- Number of global stores: 126
- Categories: Women’s, men’s, accessories, footwear
Differentiators: Buzziest brand of the moment, authenticity to its yoga roots, “insider” vibe that fuels organic virality
Potential Weakness: Buzz doesn’t last forever
It might come as a surprise to learn that Alo Yoga has been around longer than many of its competitors. That’s because the brand didn’t truly hit the mainstream until just prior to and during the pandemic, when celebrities ranging from Hailey Bieber to Martha Stewart were tagged wearing its apparel. Virality ensued, and the brand is now currently the buzziest of the athleisure bunch, with an influencer-fueled social presence that is driving demand.
Further fueling Alo Yoga’s buzz is its insider-style retail experiences. The brand’s stores are called “sanctuaries” and feature more than just products; there also are yoga studios, cafés and other experience-based offerings. Going to Alo Yoga’s stores feels like an event, which explains in part why they seem to always be busy.
The brand’s low-key, influencer-led marketing strategy also helps to bolster a sense of authenticity. Despite no store signage, Alo Yoga locations were swarmed on Black Friday 2024 based on news of deep discounts that was only shared online.
“It definitely does seem cooler and more relevant than Lululemon,” said Ana Andjelic, the author of The Business of Aspiration in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “Why do I think that? I have no idea. Which is exactly what you want when branding works — when people can’t explain why something seems cooler than something else.”
But as any brand that’s gone viral can tell you, that buzz doesn’t last. The biggest question Alo Yoga has to answer is how it will maintain its popularity once its newfound novelty wears off.
Fabletics – The Steady Performer
- Founded: 2013
- Public: No
- Annual revenue: Unknown, but reported $850 million in sales in 2024
- Legging price point: $74.95-$94.95 for non-members, as low as $14.98 for members
- Number of global stores: 104
- Categories: Women’s, men’s, scrubs
Differentiator: Membership model, which offers lower price point
Potential Weaknesses: Not seen as high-quality as competitors’ products because of lower price point; membership model turns some people off
Fabletics’ differentiator is clear — its membership model means that the company operates very differently than others, and this is the brand’s biggest strength but also its biggest challenge.
“We offer incredible quality at a price that no one else is competing with right now,” said Fabletics’ Global President Ashley Kechter in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “When people think of Fabletics, and they don’t know the brand or haven’t experienced our product, the assumption is that the discount means it’s not great quality. The reality is we go head-to-head with our competitors in quality — we are sourcing in a lot of the same factories — but we are able to offer a great value because of membership. That’s what membership unlocks — we don’t have to sacrifice on quality to get the cost where we need it. We have massive scale because of the membership model, and that’s recurring revenue.”
This recurring revenue offers solidity to the brand’s business, but the membership can be an extra hoop that consumers aren’t willing to jump through, keeping the brand out of their consideration set. Consumers can buy Fabletics products at full price without becoming a member, but with the deeply discounted member prices amply promoted, they may feel foolish for doing so.
Kechter also pointed out the flexibility of the membership — members can choose to skip months whenever they want and there are no exit fees or restrictions on cancellation. However, there’s no denying that convincing consumers of the benefit of committing to Fabletics via a monthly membership is its biggest task, one that Kechter hopes will be aided by a brick-and-mortar ramp-up over the next five years, giving its associates the chance to make the case face to face.
