Functional Apparel Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Product (Sportswear, Protective Wear, Active Wear), By Sales Channel (Supermarket/Hypermarket, Specialty Stores, Online Stores) and regional Forecast, 2024-2032

The global functional apparel market size is expected to expand at a notable pace owing to the increasing demand of these garments in medical field to safeguard from patients having transmissible diseases. Functional apparels are those attires which feature and carry out several functions apart from just its aesthetics and basic defense of the wearer. Various positive attributes of the product include protect the user against injury, safeguard the consumers against extreme weather conditions, and help sportsmen to function better. The rising popularity of the use of such products in the medical field for surgery as well as to protect themselves from patients with transmittable diseases has thereby positively affected the market functional apparel market growth. Furthermore, there is a growing demand by people who are working especially in the food production and preparation industry owing to the strict rules and regulations in maintaining cleanliness.

The rising consumption of the product among various types of sports domain such as athletics, motorsports, winter sports, and others due to its capability to enhance the performance of the sportsmen acts as one of the major driving factor for the functional apparel industry growth. The increasing manufacturing of the product targeting fitness enthusiasts is likely to generate more traction. According to the data issued by the International Health Racquet & Sportsclub Association, the global health and fitness industry is estimated to generate a revenue of $ 94 billion in 2019 and in 2018 the health club members by generations are divided into silent generation 7%, baby boomers 22%, generation X 24%, millennials 33%, generation Z 14%. Additionally, the increasing number of people infected by the deadly coronavirus also upsurge the usage of such products in various places such as airports, train stations, testing centers, laboratories, hospitals, and others.

Nevertheless, the increasing availability of low quality and counterfeit products which lasted only for a short period of time and also usually does not possess durability act as a hampering factor that is negatively affecting the functional apparel market growth.

Key Players Covered: 

• Nike, Inc.


• Under Armour, Inc


• Adidas AG


• Reebok International Limited


•  Ansell Limited


• Honeywell International Inc.


• Lakeland Industries, Inc.

Segmentation:

The functional apparel market is segmented into by product, application, sales channel, and geography.

On the basis of product, the functional apparel industry is fragmented into sportswear, protective wear, and activewear. Sportswear is projected to be the leading segment based on products owing to the high demand of the product by professional sportsmen and sports events in schools and colleges. Likewise, the popular usage of sportswear for outdoor activities has also driven its consumption rate.

Based on application, the market is divided into sports and fitness, hospitality, and hazardous workplace. Sports and fitness are anticipated to be the largest shareholder on an account of the growing number of people becoming conscious of the importance of maintaining a good physical health. Similarly, large number of people play sports as a hobby also helps to upsurge the demand.

By sales channel, the market is grouped into supermarket/hypermarket, specialty stores, and online stores. Specialty stores are estimated to be the dominating segment due to being specialized on one product which is functional apparel. Thus, this lead to possessing products with better quality and a wider range of options as compared to the other two segments.

Regional Analysis:

On the basis of region, the functional apparel market is divided into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and Middle East & Africa.

North America is projected to be the prominent market shareholder and is assessed to continue throughout the forecast period of 2020-2027. The increasing growth of the chemical industry giving rise to the growing demand of functional apparel such as chemical protective wear has positively impacted the product consumption rate. For instance, according to the American Chemical Council data released, in 2019 the United United States is one of the dominating chemical producing nation with $ 553 billion shipments and an export of over $140 billion. Furthermore, the largely use of functional apparel by the region’s emergency responders such as firefighters, state troopers, federal law enforcement, paramedics, and others has a huge contribution for the product growth. 

The Asia Pacific is estimated to exhibit a crucial presence in the functional apparel market owing to the region being the manufacturing hub of the world which is resulting to employing millions of people in this sector and this thus resulted to the rising demand of the product. The large consumption of functional apparel such as life jackets and life-saving suits in the tourist hotspot of this region such as Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, and others has accelerated the usage of such products. For instance according to the Pacific Asia Travel Association, in 2019 the international arrivals were assessed to be 728.4 million which is projected to be 40 million more than the previous year. Hence, this is indicating that the tourism industry is booming and there is a high demand of the product.

Functional Apparel Market Segmentation Analysis:

Key Industry Developments-

• In June 2020, Husqvarna Motorcycles North America, Inc. declared the launch of its new functional apparel off-road 2020. It is a complete collection of premium quality gear and protective equipment for both adults and kids.


• In July 2020, Loyal Textile Mills in collaboration with Reliance Industries and HeiQ announced the introduction of its functional apparel in the line of reusable Personal Protective Equipment.