Challenger Brands Gain Ground as Nike Resets: What’s Really Changing in Global Sportswear

Sportswear hasbeen the fastest-growing corner of fashion for a decade, but the shape of that growth is changing.

- By Dr. Samir Kapur, Independent Consultant

A new wave of challenger brands On, Hoka and Vuori among them has expanded revenue and relevance at a pace that’s forced legacy leaders to rethink long-held playbooks. Nike, still the world’s largest sportswear company, is now in a visible reset: returning to wholesale after an aggressive direct-to-consumer (DTC) pivot, clearing inventory, and recommitting to performance and athlete-first storytelling under anew CEO. The question for marketers isn’t who “wins” this quarter; it's what this competitive remix tells us about category dynamics, brand strategy, and where value will be created next'The demand is hot; the hierarchy is fluid Two truths can coexist. First, category demand remains robust: sportswear has outpaced broader apparel on the back of comfort culture, wellness, and the blurring of performance and lifestyle. Second, share is more fluid than it looked five years ago. As retailers rebalanced their assortments post-pandemic, they didn't merely take back legacy allocations—they actively sought high-growth, differentiated names to refresh shelves and shopper excitement. That oxygen helped challengers scale trial and visibility faster than traditional S-curves would predict.Crucially, these challengers aren't growing by undercutting price. On and Hoka have trained consumers to pay premium stickers for perceived benefits (cushioning tech, aesthetics that stand out, and a “serious runner” halo), while Vuori has leaned into fabric hand-feel, fit and a refined, SoCal visual language to tempt both gym-goers and everyday wearers. In other words, they're expanding the category at the top and middle, not only nibbling at the bottom.Nike’s stumble is strategic, n