Who remembers the days when quality cotton was the gold standard of sports kit?
Your parents preached the benefits of natural fabrics and we believed them…right until it rained. 10 minutes later and lo, your bodyweight doubled and your kit had all the charm of a bath towel drenched in cold water.
The big apparel brands’ initial fix was with ‘breathable’ fabrics. It took some time to believe that this plasticky, highly flammable, and suspiciously cheap feeling option was anything but a con. But cheap initial price points, years of clever marketing, stealthy price hikes and sound product development mean we now pay a premium for rather clever clothing and footwear.
Gore-Tex was probably the fabric that changed the conversation. Suddenly not all polyesters were created equal. Materials became a tech race of their own.
Now apparel brands are facing a Holy Trinty of opportunity in this space; designers are better at pairing fabrics and technology with their vision; smarter materials are getting cheaper to produce; public appetite means there is now a bigger market to ensure more robust ROI.
The next leap feels close. Just a few years ago graphene kit on the high street sounded like crazy talk but it’s no longer sci-fi, it is imminent.
Great news for all the tracksuits out there but given the potential margins, the wallets need to start getting in on this act.
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