Sweating in Michael Kors is never pretty.
That’s why Olympic swimmer and Kors fan Amanda Beard likes to keep it simple when she is at the gym. “I need to work out in comfortable, durable clothes that I can sweat in,” says Beard, who is already in training for the 2008 Summer Games. “I prefer to wear things that are functional, like nylon and mesh.”
The days of working out in a cotton T-shirt are fading fast not only for elite athletes like Beard but for gym-goers everywhere. A new generation of performance innerwear promises high-tech properties designed to wick away moisture and keep wearers comfortable and dry. And it is now stylish enough to appeal to discerning fashionistas.
In addition to athletic giants such as Nike, Adidas and Champion, companies like Patagonia, Under Armour, Hind, CuddlDuds and SLVR are among those now offering fashionable performance innerwear with features such as compression, seamless construction, moisture management and antimicrobial properties. And other 800-pound gorillas, including Speedo, are dipping their toes into the market as well.
Many of the new looks are driven by the garments’ man-made fabric technology, while aggressive marketing campaigns from companies such as Under Armour and Nike fuel demand.
Retailers are beefing up their offerings to address this growing market. Much of the action in performance innerwear has been concentrated in specialty sports chains such as Dick’s Sporting Goods and The Sports Authority, but now department stores, catalogues and even some specialty boutiques are offering a wider selection of styles.
Athleta, one of the largest women’s activewear catalogues in the U.S., is building up its selection of base layers and sports bras with a wider array of colors and styles, says Kelly Cooper, vice president of merchandising and product development. “We want to become a destination for this category,” she says. “Performance innerwear is the foundation for every athletic wardrobe, so we are making it more of a focus. We have had so much success in the bra category that we are going from two pages of bras to four for fall 2005.”
For decades, athletic innerwear consisted of sports bras and other base layers made with cotton, which tends to trap heat and moisture. In the early-to-mid-Nineties, new fabrics incorporating polyester and Lycra—to wick away moisture from the body—entered the mainstream, primarily in active sportswear. Now, companies across the price spectrum incorporate wicking and moisture-management fabrics into their performance innerwear and are enhancing those properties with even more high-tech developments. Compression fabrics, which use polyester and spandex to hug the skin, have become a staple in the performance innerwear area, driven in large part by Under Armour’s aggressive marketing campaign and relationships with professional sports teams. Compression garments are designed to act as a second skin to protect and support muscles, and most compression fabrics have wicking properties as well.
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Other innovations create a softer feel, and many looks incorporate mesh to add breathability. Seamless apparel, which is knit into a tube shape and meant to reduce chafing, is another growing technology, as are fabrics that incorporate silver and other metals as an antimicrobial agent to prevent odor.
Invista, producer and marketer of Lycra spandex and other premium fibers, is seeing more interest in its CoolMax technology for innerwear, and is also finding demand for softer performance fabrics that feel good against the skin, says Bob Kirkwood, technical director of Invista Apparel.
“Consumers in all areas are looking for products that do more than just be that product,” notes Kim Scheffler, the company’s North America marketing manager for intimates. “Whether it is antibacterial soap, wrinkle-free shirts or innerwear that has aloe, everyone is searching for how they can get more out of the same product.”
Israeli innerwear manufacturer Tefron recently set up a division called SID, or sports innovation development, in Portland, Ore., to supply seamless fabrics to activewear and innerwear companies. “Compression is a big initiative for our company,” says Amit Tal, who heads SID. Tal, like many others in the performance innerwear arena, says that there is very little difference now between what is worn as innerwear and sportswear. “We are working on high-performance base layers that have texture and breathability,” he says. “The demand for this is huge right now.”
Adidas and Nike both have large research labs devoted to developing and testing new performance technologies that are applied to innerwear as well as sportswear. Many companies are working directly with mills and yarn suppliers to create their own proprietary fabric technologies, although firms don’t like to reveal who they are working with in order to keep an element of exclusivity, says Carol Gross, vice president of sales development at New York textile company H. Warshow & Sons. That company now has a range of nylon and Lycra fabrics for innerwear, including ones that have enhanced moisture-management properties built into the yarn, and fabrics with odor-fighting antibacterial properties.
Under Armour dominates the compression market, according to Sport Scan Info, a market research company. Sales of women’s products in that category were up 165 percent in 2004 over 2003 from $20 million to $50 million, with Under Armour accounting for about 90 percent of the business, according to Sport Scan. The entire compression market is now about $300 million.
Swimwear giant Speedo is also getting in on the action as part of a plan to move beyond the swim arena and into other apparel categories. Warnaco, which holds the license to distribute Speedo in North America, has just introduced a new line of performance intimates under the Speedo Axcelerate name, which will hit stores this fall. The innerwear line, which builds on Speedo’s new sportswear collection of the same name, includes products in three groups for both men and women: compression garments with wicking properties; a lifestyle performance group in a lightweight polyester fabric that feels like cotton, and seamless items that incorporate properties from Speedo’s groundbreaking Fastskin FSII swimwear (which the company claims mimics the hydrodynamic efficiency of a shark’s skin) used in the Olympics.
“We wanted to capitalize on the imagery of Speedo Fastskin II, which represents speed and performance,” says Helen McCluskey, group president of Warnaco’s intimate apparel business. “(Axcelerate) will embrace all of the new technology by Speedo.”
Ken Barker, U.S. apparel director for Adidas, says his company has been using some form of heat-management fabric since the early Nineties and continues to build this category. The firm’s proprietary moisture-management technology, called ClimaCool, uses a three-dimensional wicking system first introduced in 2000 and now available in a broad swath of its innerwear and other offerings. A new generation of moisture-management technology will bow later this year, Barker notes. “We work closely with athletes in our labs and body-map the heat zone,” he says. “It’s a science for us. We have an innovation and technology team that is focused on this.”
Nike has a wide range of innerwear and base-layer performance offerings incorporating its Dri-Fit and Sphere moisture-management technologies, designed to keep athletes dry and cool as they work out, though a company spokeswoman says women’s intimate apparel is not currently a specific focus for the company. For men, Nike recently introduced its Pro compression line, which competes directly with Under Armour, accompanied by a large advertising campaign that hit during the recent Super Bowl.
Among the newcomers in performance long underwear is ComfortTech, an activewear brand from CuddlDuds that hit stores for fall 2004. The products incorporate lightweight spandex fabrics with stretch and wicking properties. For fall 2005, the line has been perked up with new colors and additional silhouettes, including a mock turtleneck. CuddlDuds has found a niche by catering to department stores, while its competitors sell to sports specialty chains like The Sports Authority and Dick’s Sporting Goods, says Enid Katze, senior vice president of merchandising at O’Bryan Brothers, which makes the line. “We felt there was an opportunity in department stores for high-quality performance innerwear,” Katze notes.
Patagonia, the firm best known for its rugged outerwear and outdoor apparel, has been rapidly expanding its performance innerwear line, offering more for fall than ever before, says spokeswoman Jen Rapp. The company has developed a proprietary technology called Capilene, a seamless knit fabric that has wicking properties and mesh pockets for airflow. Patagonia employs it in styles including workout thongs, boy shorts and a variety of bras and tank tops in bold hues such as red, blue, hot pink and orange. “We are using more color,” Rapp notes. “Now, people want performance fabrics, but they want to look cute, also.”
While most innerwear companies are using polyester and spandex blends, Champion, the activewear stalwart best known for its bras, is turning to natural fibers. For spring, the company is launching a line of wicking athleticwear in cotton, says Heather Stefani, vice president of marketing. Styles include racer-back tank tops, sports bras, colorblock T-shirts and short pants in hues such as red, orange and sea blue. “This line is designed for customers who want softness and comfort as well as moisture-wicking performance,” Stefani adds.
Other new noncotton bra and tank top styles from Champion incorporate seamless technology in nylon and Lycra spandex blends.
Some of the innerwear newcomers are targeting niche markets. SLVR by Aerogear, which hit stores last spring, is designed for equestrians. The collection includes a selection of nylon spandex thongs, briefs, sports bras and T-shirts with antibacterial properties.
SLVR was founded by Libby Edelman, an avid equestrian who cofounded shoe company Sam & Libby. “I started SLVR because a lot of women had issues with the innerwear that is out there,” Edelman says. “No one wants to be flattened out and bandaged to death. There are a lot of women who want to be sexy but still have support and comfort.”