The retail value of women's sportswear in Australia increased by 7% in 2023 compared to the previous year, outpacing the growth of the entire apparel market. The industry had a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10% from 2019 to 2023, according to Euromonitor International's Passport Apparel and Footwear system, highlighting its strong growth potential, reported Apparel Resources.
Icey Huang, a research analyst at Euromonitor International, credits this increase to the Paris 2024 Olympics, which attracted a lot of attention under the hashtag #GenderEqualOlympics and was the first Games with complete gender parity. According to Huang, "the Australian fashion industry, particularly the sportswear sector, has benefited from this focus on advancing women's participation in sports."
Through a variety of initiatives, businesses have enthusiastically backed women's sports throughout the past year. For example, Rebel officially joined the Australian Rules Football women's league in 2023 and teamed up with the Matildas, the country's women's soccer squad. In order to get kids ages 6 to 12 involved in sports, Rebel also launched the Rebel Rookies program, which offers Australian Rules football and international football.
In order to encourage women and girls to participate in sports despite menstruation, Modibodi, an Australian period underwear manufacturer, teamed up with Puma on the Change Room campaign. Australian companies July, Volley, and Sportscraft were chosen to design the official Australian Olympic Team for the Olympics in Paris, and The Iconic unveiled a marketing campaign with five athletes in action.
Globally, Euromonitor International predicts that the Olympics' global television viewership and sponsorships will boost the sportswear business, with a 4% rise in 2024 compared to a 2% growth for the apparel and footwear sector as a whole.
"We expect the event to boost global sales of women's sportswear as brands increasingly target this traditionally underserved demographic," says Marguerite Le Rolland, head of apparel and footwear at Euromonitor. Women's sportswear saw a quicker growth rate than men's sportswear from 2018 to 2023 (5 percent vs. 3 percent CAGR), accounting for US $ 143 billion (A$220 billion) globally in 2023 and 36% of all sportswear sales.