More and more young women are ditching their wired push-up bras for the softer, seamless kind that the fashion industry say is now part of the "athleisure" fashion. With this rapidly growing demand for the more comfortable intimates, China's lingerie market could soar to $64.69 billion by the end of 2022.
In comparison, the country's lingerie market is only at $43.42 billion in 2017, the South China Morning Post reported, citing data from Frost & Sullivan. A big contributor to the growth in the sales of wireless bras that jumped to as much as 70 percent in the past year according to a separate data from CBNData and Tmall which is owned by the Alibaba Group.
Pascal Martin, a partner at OC&C Strategy, explained that younger Chinese ladies are the ones shaping the new market demand. He said the new generation has strong purchasing power aside from their unique preference.
As for the athleisure bras specifically, Neil Wang, president of Frost & Sullivan, is predicting that demand will make it the dominant trend in the market. Strong preference for seamless bras is observed in women from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
Meanwhile, conservative estimates from EDITED, a website focused on industry news and market analysis, stated the global lingerie market to hit $55.83 billion by 2024. A report noted that the market started shifting towards soft triangle bras and sports bras in late 2016.
To address the rapidly growing demand, lingerie makers practice ultra-specialization more than ever. They now design their brands with specific target age in mind.
6isty8ight, Hong Kong-based lingerie retailer, is enjoying profits from women aged 15 to 25 who splurge on bralettes, wireless, and seamless bras.
Also winning in the athleisure fashion is Neiwai, a local start-up available on Tmall alongside Victoria's Secret and Triumph.
Bestselling lines from start-up Dare One are also the wireless bras and triangle bras. Tuibian hezi focuses on lingerie specifically for the teenagers while AtoG offers custom-made bras.
Unsurprisingly, international brands that are first to provide comfortable bras even at a time when the demand was low are currently enjoying the rapid growth in China. Among these brands are Calvin Klein and American Eagle Outfitter's Aerie.
Intimissimi, an Italian brand which just entered China in 2017, has yet to define its focus market. At present, what it is doing is to offer new product releases weekly across its 40 stores. The company aims to set up 300 more stores in Greater China by 2020.
