ATHLEISURE RENEWED

It may have peaked in the West, but players here say the fashion trend is still alive and kicking in Singapore

- Amanda Chai Style Correspondent

Is athleisure as dead as the internet declares it to be?

The category that blurred the line between sportswear and casual wear, which enjoyed phenomenal growth during the Covid-19 pandemic, has seemingly fallen by the wayside five years on.

In July, trade publication The Business Of Fashion decreed in an article that “the reign of leggings is over”, as ruled by Gen Zs, who prefer baggier, wide-leg fits.

A report from retail intelligence firm Edited said the proportion of leggings sold at activewear retailers in the United States and Britain dropped from 46.9 per cent in 2022 to 38.7 per cent in 2025.

Canadian activewear giant Lululemon, which built an empire on leggings and yoga pants, saw its year-on-year revenue growth slow from 30 per cent in 2022 to 7 per cent in the second quarter of 2025. Its stock declined nearly 57 per cent in 2025.

If online chatter and the figures have it, it seems the post-pandemic athleisure boom has peaked in the West.

And yet, in Singapore, moves from players old and new suggest otherwise.

A number of small homegrown brands offering clothes that run the gamut of activewear to athleisure, like Rise Rise and Saints & Sports, have sprouted up in recent months.

In July and August, global players Alo Yoga from Los Angeles and Swiss sportswear brand On made their Singapore debuts one month apart, with stores in The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and Jewel Changi Airport respectively.

And Lululemon reaffirmed its confidence here by opening its largest store in Takashimaya Shopping Centre in July - an experience-driven flagship that incorporates a yoga and pilates studio within its compound.

Where there is supply, there must be demand.

No brand knows this better than homegrown Cheak. The activewear darling favoured by Instagram “it” girls has ridden the roller coaster of consumer demand since its debut in 2020 as the online-only Butter.