Few could have predicted that one of the most derided sartorial mainstays of the 1980s would be a multibillion-dollar industry in its own right. Yet it appears that leggings are having the last laugh. Having been valued at US$32.89 billion in 2022, the global leggings market is expected to reach a value of US$57.97 billion by 2031, according to analysis by market research company Growth Market Reports. Data analysis by Statista predicts that 4 billion pairs of tights and leggings will be produced in 2027. These incredible numbers highlight not only a seismic sartorial shift, but a cultural one too. This is a booming business, not thanks to fashion, but rather the unprecedented and increasing appetite for fitness apparel. Gone are the days of sweaty, scratchy leggings that lose their elasticity in the wash; the leggings trending right now are highly engineered and made from high-tech materials. Take Vuori, the California-based brand whose workout tights retail between US$98 and US$108. Their trademark Vuori “BlissBlend” fabric has been developed using 75% recycled materials to create a super — but weightless — stretch loved by its customer base. The brand says their “BreatheInterlock” fabric meanwhile, boasts “moisture-wicking performance” and an “airbrushed second-skin finish.” “Fabric innovation is one of our biggest priorities,” explained Sarah Carlson, Vuori’s senior vice president of women’s design, whose material innovation team works on site with its mill partners in Europe and Asia for between one and three years to realize their materials. “Our goal is to refresh how people think of and feel in performance fabrics and activewear, while prioritizing materials that honor the environment.” German brand Hey Honey Yoga is a family-run rising star on the scene whose gym tights retail around US$120 are both OEKO-TEX certified and PETA-approved vegan. It’s a competitive sector with a growing number of major players boasting Instagram followings in their millions including On! Running (1.4m followers); Gymshark (6.7m); Lululemon (4.7m); and, of course, Skims, (5.6m) the brainchild of Kim Kardashian who has been widely credited with the mass popularization of the body-con movement in which leggings play protagonist. Traditional sports brands are in the market, too, including Adidas, Puma and Nike. Rewind to the 1980s and leggings as a luxury would have been a hard concept to grasp; fast forward three decades, however, they’ve proven to be a garment with legs.(SD-Agencies) Words to Learn 相關詞匯 【影響巨大的】yǐngxiǎng jùdà de seismic of enormous proportions or effect 【創意】chuàngyì brainchild a product of one's creative effort 很少人能預見到，20世紀80年代最受譏諷的時尚潮流之一會成長為數十億美元的產業；然而緊身褲似乎笑到了最后。 根據市場研究公司Growth Market Reports的分析，2022年全球緊身褲市場價值為 328.9億美元，預計2031年達到579.7億美元。Statista的數據分析預測，到2027年，緊身褲和連褲襪的產量將達到40億條。這些令人難以置信的數據不僅彰顯了時尚的巨變，也體現了文化的巨變。緊身褲的蓬勃發展并不源于追求時尚，而是源自人們對健身服裝前所未有、日益增長的需求。 汗漬斑斑、一洗就沒彈性的緊身褲已經一去不復返了，現在流行的是高科技材料緊身褲。 以來自加利福尼亞的品牌Vuori為例，其健身緊身褲的零售價在98美元到108美元之間。該品牌標志性的BlissBlend面料采用75%的回收材料制成，超輕但具有超強彈力，深受顧客喜愛。該品牌稱，他們的BreatheInterlock面料具有“吸濕排汗性能”和“柔和的第二層肌膚效果”。 Vuori負責女裝設計的高級副總裁莎拉?卡爾森說：“面料創新是我們的重中之重。”她領導的材料創新團隊親臨歐洲和亞洲工廠，和合作伙伴一起工作一至三年以實現材料創新。她說：“我們希望刷新人們對高性能面料和運動服裝的看法和感受，優先采用環保材料。” 德國家族企業品牌Hey Honey Yoga是該領域的后起之秀，緊身健身服零售價約為120美元，獲得了OEKO-TEX和 PETA環保認證。 這是一個擁擠的賽道，越來越多大公司在Instagram上擁有數百萬粉絲，其中包括 On！Running（140 萬粉絲）、Gymshark（670 萬粉絲）、 Lululemon（470 萬粉絲），當然還有 Skims（560 萬粉絲）。Skims是金?卡戴珊的品牌，她引領了以緊身褲為主角的body-con潮流。阿迪達斯、彪馬和耐克等傳統運動品牌也加入了緊身褲市場。 時光倒流回到20世紀80年代，人們還很難接受緊身褲成為奢侈時尚；然而，30年過去了，事實證明緊身褲的潮流經久不衰。(Translated by Debra) | 