What Are The New Sportswear Brands That The Sportswear Giants And Potential Investors Should Pay Attention To?

With a series of new

Flooding into the market

Industry giants suddenly appear vulnerable, from antique sneakers to running specialties.

Glasses, they sell everything.

According to the world clothing and shoe net, in March of this year, Vf Corporation (VF Corp.) bought Altra, a brand of running shoes, which may be the first in a series of pactions.

Some sportswear giants hope to catch up with the young generation by snapping up fast-growing young upstarts.

According to reporters and McKinsey Co's global fashion format report, the growth of the $330 billion sportswear market is slowing, and sales this year are expected to grow 6% to 7%, from 7.5% to 8.5% in 2017.

This is bad news for big brands like Nike and Under Armour. They are facing challenges in designing clothing and shoes to attract young consumers.

At the same time, sportswear retailers such as Lululemon, Athleta and Sweaty Betty have found successful different roads, using successful products and lifestyle brands to cultivate loyal followers in the millennial generation.

Behind them, the sportswear clothing brand is trying to create its own community.

Matt Powell, vice president and senior industry consultant of NPD group, said: "community culture is what consumers really need, and consumers are also looking for unique products, which are obviously provided by these small brands."

Not all companies follow the Vf Corporation line.

Some large companies are adjusting their design and supply chain processes to provide a steady stream of new sportswear products, which are often more technically difficult and costly to create than other types of fashion.

It is worth noting that the successful Adidas group in the millennial generation said they were not interested in the acquisition of smaller competitors.

But for many large sportswear brands, a small but rapidly expanding brand may be a way to revive the downturn.

These start-ups have loyal customer groups, usually established through word of mouth, social media and activity links.

They also appealed to retailers to find unique brands to distinguish their competitors from their products.

So what are the new sportswear brands that the sportswear giant and potential investors should pay attention to? Journalists have conducted their own internal research and analysis, and have talked with some industry experts to identify 10 worthy of attention and merger targets in the sports apparel industry.

Outdoor Voices

Time of establishment: 2013

Foreign investment: $57 million 500 thousand, investors include 14W, Forerunner, General Catalyst, and Burch Creative Capital

In the past five years, Tyler Haney, founder of Outdoor Voices and alumni of Parsons college, has become a model of modern sports fitness.

Finding a balance between functionality and design, Outdoor Voices doubles its direct consumer business every year, mainly through word of mouth.

"The products we hope to create are the same as those of Nike and Lululemon, but they are more in line with the aesthetic requirements of my daily wear, such as Acne and A.P.C.," Haney told reporters.

In 2016, the brand invested $13 million, including General Catalyst Partners and Forerunner Ventures, and opened 6 stores in the United States, and Fifth stores opened in Boston in the second half of this year.

Cooperation with A.P.C. (brand founder Jean Touitou is also a Outdoor Voices investor) has further expanded the exposure range of the sportswear brand.

The latest round of US $34 million round of C financing started in March 2018, which will enable the company to invest in fabric innovation and product development and allow it to launch a virtual suite to create customized garments. At present, the sales of the brand 70% are now available online.

APL

Date of establishment: 2009

Foreign investment: None

Since the twin brothers Adam and Ryan Goldston set up Athletic Propulsion Lab (APL) in California in their dorms in 2009, the new sports shoe has grown rapidly.

A series of men's basketball shoes were launched, one of which was the first pair of sneakers banned from sale by NBA, because it allegedly brought unfair competitive advantages to athletes. Until 2015, when the Net-a-Porter company arrived, the business became mainstream.

Although APL's most affordable and popular shoe models range from $140 to $160, their shoes have an untypical aesthetic and high-profile customer base, including Kardashian and Jensen.

The company bypassed some key sports sales outlets such as Foot Locker and attracted the attention of 300 well-known distributors, including Bergdorf Goodman and Selfridges, and Lululemon jointly designed sports shoes with APL.

Today, the company is still the sole proprietorship of the Goldston couple.

Although the company did not disclose its financial position, APL said its revenue increased by two times a year since the launch of women's shoes in 2014.

The brand's goal is to achieve $1 billion in revenue with less than 40 employees.

District Vision

Date of establishment: 2015

Foreign investment: None

The fashion veteran Tom Daly and Max Vallot resigned from the work of Acne Studios and Saint Laurent respectively, and founded the New York based glasses brand District Vision.

The two person is not just introducing attractive products.

The runner District Vision has retained its existing customers through its handmade functional glasses in Japan, and has attracted new customers through free yoga and meditation courses.

The company is far ahead of the same kind of competition.

Potential buyers can benefit from the professional knowledge of the founder of District Vision and their enthusiastic community culture.

Vallot told reporters: "it is New York's curious runners who inspired us to create this brand. We will continue developing our product line to meet their needs."

Through the community driven approach, the revenue of District Vision increased by 120% between 2017 and 2018, of which 50% came from direct consumer oriented sales.

The brand is currently available at more than 100 wholesalers, including Dover Street Market, Lane Crawford and Barneys New York, New York.

This year, District Vision launched a wearable technology project and several important cooperation including technology footwear.

P.E. Nation

Date of establishment: 2016

Foreign investment: not announced

Australian designers Pip Edwards and Claire Tregoning, adhering to the concept of multi fashion fashion, set out to build a mature sportswear series, integrating sports and daily life into one.

Celebrity endorsements such as Olivia Palermo, Bella Hadid and Ruby Rose have contributed to the rapid rise of the brand.

Today, P.E.Nation can be bought from Selfridges to Kith department stores, and in the past three years, P.E.Nation's revenue has increased to three digits.

Earlier this year, the company expanded its business scope and entered the field of men's wear, offering boxing, yoga, swimming and denim clothing.

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Girlfriend Collective

Date of establishment: 2017

Foreign investment: None

This vibrant Seattle sportswear brand, launched by the couple's two person combination Quang and Ellie Dinh, has won the recognition of consumers with its subtle monotonous color and its environmentally friendly and socially responsible sport and leisure style.

Girlfriend Collective has launched a direct consumer oriented business, helping it establish direct communication channels with 100 thousand fans on Instagram.

Together with these fans, the group celebrates diversity and physical activity and pparency in its supply chain, a typical practice of sporting goods brands, but also in line with its millennial and Z generation users' values.

"We still rely on word of mouth as a growth channel, especially because our brands have too many topics about how our products are produced and who we are producing for them," Quang Dinh said.

He expects 2018 revenue to grow by 100% over the previous year.

Tracksmith

Date of establishment: 2014

Foreign investment: US $5 million 700 thousand, investors include The Pentland Group, 14W, Index Ventures and Lerer Hippeau Ventures.

Running apparel brand Tracksmith, with its retro, Ivy League aesthetic style, has gained popularity among more and more runners. These runners are between beginners and professional runners.

Brand founder Matt Taylor and Luke Scheybeler also founded the bicycle brand Rapha, Tracksmith is a Boston based venture capital support start-up company, initially as a direct consumer oriented enterprise.

Last year, Tracksmith's revenue grew by more than 120% yen, and it is expected to exceed this figure in 2018.

Now, with us $5 million 700 thousand in funding, Tracksmith is seeking to develop its content business, so that it can contact customers more frequently and expand its female business, which accounts for more than 30% of sales.

In addition, the brand is considering international expansion, and less than 15% of its sales now come from overseas.

Carbon38

Date of establishment: 2013

Foreign investment: US $26 million, investors include Foot Locker Inc.

Launched by Katie Warner Johnson and CarolineGogolak, as an online destination for women's luxury sports apparel, Carbon38 soon found a magic weapon to attract consumers, including Nike, Adidas by Stella McCartney and P.E. P.E..

Meanwhile, an internal brand with the same name set up a bridge between sportswear and fashionable garments, and maintained a 500% revenue growth in 2015.

The product currently accounts for less than 10% of total sales.

In January 2018, Foot Locker launched a strategic investment of $15 million for Carbon38.

Since 2013, the company's total financing in the first round of private financing has reached $26 million.

Gogolak told reporters in 2016: "I do believe that over the next five years, business of more than $one hundred million is entirely possible."

Rhone

Date of establishment: 2014

Foreign investment: over 62 million US dollars, including L Catterton, M3 and Wheelhouse Creative..

In their view, there is no niche sport brand for men in this market.

To cope with this situation, former US National Football League employees Nate checketts and former NCAA player Kyle McClure founded Rhone.

The difference between the brand and Nike, Under Armour and Lululemon high-end men's clothing series is that its product design is not so strong trademark color.

Today, it sells in 175 stores and gyms around the world.

This pattern has enabled Rhone to experience tremendous growth from the very beginning, doubling its revenue every year, and it is expected to more than double next year.

In addition to $5 million in the first round of financing, the brand also received a significant investment in L Catterton in March 2017.

L Catterton is a private equity firms focused on consumers. Its shareholders include LVMH and Groupe Arnault (Catterton).

The Upside

Date of establishment: 2014

Foreign investment: not announced

Australian designer and former model Jodhi Meares practices yoga every day. Her experiences in New York and Hawaii provide a definition for the contemporary sportswear brand.

The new brand of the TV presenter and founder of Tigerlily, a popular swimsuit company, has been a success.

Famous for its printed underpants and lace Jersey, the brand has become a popular brand of MatchesFashion, Net-a-Porter and lac Crawford sportswear, and is often sought after by models such as Karlie Kloss, Hailey Baldwin and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

The brand currently has three stores in Australia and has launched swimsuits and specialized men's wear series.

Aeance

Date of establishment: 2015

Foreign investment: not announced

The German minimalist sportswear brand, founded by Nadine-Isabelle Baier and Arendt van Deyk, is committed to producing high quality environmentally friendly fabrics and targeting luxury shoppers.

In 2017, the brand entered the distribution market and hired canadian designer Steven Tai to design its second series to help attract new audiences.

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