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Sport can simply be recognized as a physical activity that involves competition between individuals or teams. That being said, it doesn’t seem clear where fashion fits into this notion, apart from the sportswear used to play such games. Though, traditionally, sports like football have always carried an aspect of fashion design in order to create sportswear that represents a team and allows them to stand out from their competition, fashion in sport has since come a long way.
Now, with access to sport in person, on television, and online, such sports have influenced fashion trends and have diversified the fashion retail industry as a result of its accessibility. Sportswear has now become a part of everyday life, whether playing sport or not. That’s why big sports apparel brands like Nike and Adidas dominate the retail industry in China. It’s therefore not surprising that jeans have been exchanged for joggers and boots for trainers. We’ll take a look at this shift in the fashion retail industry below.
First and foremost, while sport itself has of course influenced the fashion retail market through the exploration of clothing for active people, key figures in society have a lot to answer for this. In our modern society, a lot more people are aware of their health and fitness so are engaging in more physical activities. Naturally, this means a bigger sportswear wardrobe. This shift in wardrobe doesn’t stop there. Now, people are quick to share their sporting apparel across social media to engage with other like-minded fitness people.
One Asian influencer in particular, Hana Giang Anh, has her very own fitness social media platform and can often be seen sharing her sportswear looks on Instagram. Since Instagram is a visual platform that creates aspiration amongst users, particularly since products can be tagged, those that follow influencers often get on board with fashion trends and can be seen flaunting sportswear themselves. For that reason, online sport has influenced the fashion retail market as it has exposed social media users to the benefits of sportswear.
With the online space so widespread, access to online sporting events and games is all the easier. Sites like William Hill offer access to sport via online betting across the world, allowing the sporting market to draw further attention to itself. This has led to the sporting audience has grown and interest in sport has increased: even those that don’t play sports themselves or take a keen interest in a particular sport or team are presented with the opportunity to participate in some way, whether it’s through betting on a game or playing an online sports game.
Since fashion is a way of displaying your identity, more people are taking to sportswear to show that they belong to the sporting industry. For that reason, since sport has been introduced to the online sphere, it has capably influenced the fashion retail market through the increased accessibility to online users. This has had both a cause and effect – it has caused more people to directly or indirectly get involved with sport, and it has consequently had an effect on their lifestyle choices, including the clothes they choose to wear.
This goes to show that with the idealization of and accessibility to sport online, more people are aware, not only of its health benefits and entertainment value but of its fashion value too. That’s why more retail brands are creating sportswear that pushes boundaries and makes a statement, all while being fashionable, comfortable, and ideal for physical activity. Hence, the fashion retail market is more sport orientated than ever.
