A decade ago, the sportswear market was driven by the concept of ‘cool’ brands that had products that could be identified with the notion and reaped profits. Market leaders like NIKE, Adidas, Under Armour, and PUMA, each had their own set of loyalists, from celebrities, and sports persons to the sports-crazy common man. But of late, even as the sportswear segment continues to grow, it has a new and more demanding driver – ‘women’. According to findings by Allied Market Research, the sportswear category will grow at a CAGR of 4.3 percent to reach a total market revenue worth US $ 184.6 billion by the year 2020. And though the men’s sportswear segment today constitutes around 52 percent of the revenue and is the highest revenue-generating segment in the sports apparel market, every brand has realized the potential of the women’s segment that is expected to grow at a relatively higher CAGR of 5.7 percent during the forecast period, as the involvement of women in sporting and fitness activities increases across the globe.

Every sportswear brand has in the last year added lines targeted specifically at the woman consumer. The momentum has now become so strong that even high-street retailers including Next have gone ahead to introduce sportswear apparel sections that cater exclusively to women. Nike and JD Sports have opened up stores that are all-woman because of the trending size of the women's sportswear market. Significantly, the sports industry is encouraging collaborations between sports brands and the fashion industry in order to produce new styles to cover the needs of the young and women segment which is significantly growing over the past years.