Denim is about as American as apple pie. Yet, it’s seen its share of competition here from athleisure apparel. Is it still beloved? Of course. But do other markets like China and Mexico present strong opportunities for denim makers? Definitely.
Overall, WGSN’s Dio Kurazawa, director of denim, says the industry is doing well.
“Denim has continued to adapt to ever-changing trends with new innovations in fabrics and the adoption of new silhouettes not typically designed for denim,” Kurazawa says. “Fabric mills keep up with the demand for more performance functionality and comfort with the development of innovative fabric blends and weaves. I believe the denim industry is on track for even the newest market trend — sportcore,” he says. “Sportcore embraces a more streetstyle approach to athleisure.”
And as Euromonitor International points out, jeans are growing not just here in the U.S., but in China and Mexico. The research firm says in the United States, jeans showed slight growth both in volume and current value terms in 2016, after declining over the previous two years. In China, jeans registered current value growth of 5 percent in China in 2016, with sales approaching CNY80 billion (USD $11.8 billion). And in Mexico, Euromonitor International finds jeans to be among Mexican’s favorite garments. Standard and premium denim saw the fastest growth in 2016, increasing 8 percent in current value terms.
Of the three countries, denim affinity is definitely highest in Mexico, with about 7 in 10 Mexican consumers saying they “love or enjoy wearing denim,” significantly higher than in the U.S. (59%) or China (63%), according to the Cotton Incorporated Global and U.S. Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey.
In Mexico, males (75 percent) and consumers under age 25 (74 percent) are the biggest proponents of wearing jeans, according to Monitor™ research. In China, females (66 percent) and those 13-to-24 (73 percent) appreciate denim the most. But in the U.S., while females (61 percent) enjoyed denim more than males, the older 35-to-55 year old crowd (66 percent) appreciates them far more than those 25-to-34 (59 percent) or 13-to-24 (43 percent).
The global denim market is worth about $56 billion, according to Statistic Brain. And the denim industry was expected to grow at a CAGR of over 6.5 percent from 2015 to 2020, according to market search and advisory firm Technavio. The U.S. accounts for $13.7 billion of that.
In the U.S., jeans saw a slow comeback in 2016, according to Euromonitor International, as consumers began investing in denim again after the athleisure trend matured a little. The firm sees Millennials as a key demographic for the category here, especially since that generation represented 23 percent of the U.S. population in 2016.
“Millennials are willing to spend on clothing and accessories,” Euromonitor International contends. “They tend to be more aware of the latest fashion trends and are looking for clothing and accessories to personalize their fashion style and update their look. This generation supported growth in sales of economy and standard jeans. After fashion shifted from jeans to other types of bottoms, such as yoga pants and leggings, denim was highly promoted as a key trendy item through fashion magazines and social media by jeans manufacturers and retailers to appeal to young consumers.”
For both U.S. and Mexican consumers, jeans are the most popular type of bottomswear for running errands (50 percent and 43 percent, respectively), work (32 percent and 51 percent), and dinner (31 percent and 27 percent), according to Monitor™ data. In contrast, Chinese consumers prefer dress pants for work (41 percent) and casual pants for going out to dinner (44 percent), hanging out at home (39 percent), and running errands (37 percent).
WGSN’s Kurazawa says denim makers were smart to increase denim’s comfort, as it helped them to better compete against the athleisure influx.
Source: http://lifestylemonitor.cottoninc.com