+20% Sportswear consumption in China
Yes Tmall Has Become an Explosive Growth for sportwear Brands in China
Fellow brand leaders and marketing colleagues, take a deep breath and look at the data below – because it may quietly reshape your brand’s growth map.
The Data Tells You: The Storm Has Arrived
According to the latest market data, sportswear sales on Taobao and Tmall grew approximately 20% YoY in 2025. What does this number mean? It represents millions of consumers clicking “buy,” trying on, and repurchasing – a powerful vote of confidence. It is the surging tide of the entire industry moving online.
Even more staggering is the explosive power within sub‑segments. In 2025, sales of sports down jackets on Tmall exceeded 10 million units, with GMV approaching RMB 9 billion. Among them, sports down vests saw a 127% YoY increase in GMV. As you track these categories, almost every growth curve is drawing a steep 45‑degree upward slope.
Who Is Leading This “Sportswear Surge”?
Let’s look at the players shining bright.
Outdoor professional gear is accelerating. On ran up to CHF 3.014 billion in net sales in FY2025, maintaining ~30% growth for several years. In Q1 2026, net profit skyrocketed 82.2%, with the Asia‑Pacific region up 44.4% YoY. China contributed double‑digit high growth and has become its global growth engine.
Niche tracks are breeding new dark horses. In Q1 2026, Salomon grew an astonishing 47.8% YoY on Tmall. Full‑year 2025 revenue reached 2.404billion(approx.RMB13.8billion),up312.404billion(approx.RMB13.8billion),up312 billion mark for the first time. This French mountain outdoor brand is rapidly transitioning from “professional trail gear” to a “lifestyle symbol for the middle class.”
Yoga wear continues to deepen its hold on female consumers. Lululemon’s net revenue in mainland China reached $1.755 billion in FY2025, a massive 29% YoY increase, raising its share of global revenue to 16%. Its “yoga pants + sports bra” combination firmly locks in the spending passion of精致 women in first‑ and second‑tier cities.
Behind these numbers lies a deep signal: China’s sportswear market is moving away from the old “discount and promotion” driven model, entering a new phase of “brand premium + professional segmentation + scenario‑based experience.”
Core Consumer Trend Decoding (A Must‑Read for Brand Professionals)
In this blue ocean of sportswear, several key trends are quietly shaping purchase decisions:
1. From “buying clothes” to “buying scenarios” – functional items take over.
Today’s sportswear consumption is no longer simply about warmth or coverage. Consumers want: “This piece can go with me to the gym, serve as light outdoor gear on weekends, and even look stylish on the street.” That is the magic of functional items.
Look at Tmall’s numbers: sports single vests, sports quilted vests, and sports down vests saw GMV growth of 281%, 193%, and 127% YoY respectively – taking the top three spots among all apparel categories. Similar explosive growth is happening in snow sports, climbing, diving, and other emerging scenarios. You are not selling a piece of clothing – you are selling a lifestyle, an identity. Is your brand “producing” such scenarios? In the past, branding was about product and channels. Today, branding is about scenarios and communities. When a jacket serves both urban commuting and weekend hiking, its customer boundary is completely broken.
2. Professional endorsements become “trust currency.”
From Hoka to On, from outdoor footwear to compression wear, consumers increasingly care about specs and performance. Tmall data confirms this: the core secret of conversion rate lies in whether a consumer can be convinced within seconds after clicking a product. A Tmall operational rule tells us that “visitor changes, order changes, clicks, and conversion rate” are the three core metrics. Users no longer easily pay for flashy influencer products. They spend longer checking product details, compare across brands more frequently. Only when a product’s professional attributes are technically expressed on the detail page, vividly shown during live streaming, and authentically verified in reviews – only then can a brand truly unlock consumers’ increasingly cautious willingness to pay.
Brand Strategy: Leverage Tmall to Blast Growth
Facing this market situation, how should smart brands plan their Tmall channel for 2026?
First, stake out trend categories and align with Social strategy. Tmall has clearly stated it will focus on recruiting merchants with strong outdoor styling features, such as hiking jackets, utility vests, and sun‑protective wear (hats). Brands can build product matrices around scenarios like outdoor climbing, urban commuting, and professional training. 2026 is a major sports year, and the Tmall Sports & Outdoor team is fully guiding merchants to capture event‑driven consumption. If your product line is still stuck on the vague concept of “general sportswear,” sorry – you won’t get a single drop of platform traffic. The platform now lists hiking jackets, sun‑protective wear, and utility vests in its recruitment white paper – meaning search traffic, campaign resources, and consumer mindshare will concentrate on these tags. If you don’t do scenario‑based and tag‑based branding, you automatically disappear from platform traffic allocation.
Second, embrace a new product strategy and seize launch high ground.
Major promotions like Tmall 618 are being heavily used by brands as the “#1 launch pad for new products.” Adidas’s national team colorways and limited‑edition luxury items like AIR JORDAN 1 LOW all chose Tmall for their debuts. The sports outdoor industry will continue to ignite the market through the “major sports event year” and “new product strategies.” A new product is not about changing a color or logo – it’s about creating new scenarios and defining new demands. A successful sports new product must answer three questions: In what new scenario can it be used? Which unmet user group can it reach? What kind of social spread can it generate?
Third, use AI to improve efficiency and build a long‑term moat.
In 2026, the Tmall Sports & Outdoor platform is fully promoting “AI‑driven full‑funnel operational efficiency, rationally expanding product matrices, lifting store tier levels, and creating differentiated product premiums.” Brands can leverage Tmall’s newly released AI tools and trend insight white papers to fully digitize data analysis, private domain operations, and ad placement
building a true “lean operation” barrier. Many brands’ operations are still stuck in the crude mode of “check the dashboard → adjust bids → wait for results.”
Meanwhile, your competitors are already using AI to predict boom cycles of sub‑categories, automatically optimize creative matching for different audiences, and dynamically adjust traffic allocation across multiple SKUs. The level of operational refinement will directly determine gross margin thickness.
Fourth, establish brand anchors and deepen private domain operations. When traffic dividends peak, a brand needs to create an irreplaceable “anchor” amid consumers’ many choices. This anchor could be an exclusive collaboration (e.g., Salomon × streetwear IP), being the professional synonym for a specific scenario (e.g., On’s deep engagement with its runner community), or a co‑created thematic marketing campaign with the platform (e.g., Tmall冰雪季 shifting from “sales platform” to “scenario‑based emotional field”). Every public domain touchpoint will become more expensive, but every private domain touchpoint is compound interest on brand assets.
Source
- https://fashionchinaagency.com/sportswear-the-new-athleisure-trend-china/ Explanation: This article explains how sportswear has evolved into the “athleisure” trend in China—worn not just for gym activities but as everyday casual fashion. It covers key drivers like rising interest in light sports (e.g., running, yoga, hiking), wellness for stress relief, and relaxed workplace dress codes. Market stats highlight strong growth (projected to reach $82.8 billion by 2024 with an 11% annual rate). It also offers practical advice for brands on e-commerce (Tmall, JD), social media (Xiaohongshu, Douyin), and influencer (KOL/KOC) marketing to succeed in China.
- https://fashionchinaagency.com/li-ning-what-is-the-success-recipe-of-the-sportswear-brand-in-china/ Explanation: A deep dive into Li Ning, one of China’s leading domestic sportswear brands (founded by an Olympic champion). It analyzes its comeback strategies, including major sponsorships (Olympics, CBA league, NBA star endorsements like Dwyane Wade), “Guochao” (national trend) fashion collections blending Chinese cultural elements with modern design, product innovation (e.g., advanced tech like the Li-Ning Bow), and omnichannel retail with experience stores. It includes broader market context (sportswear sales reached RMB 371.8 billion in 2021) and tips for other brands on using social media and cultural relevance.
- https://fashionchinaagency.com/what-makes-athleisure-great-in-china/ Explanation: This piece details the explosive growth of China’s athleisure/activewear market, driven by government health initiatives (“Healthy China 2030”), shifting beauty standards toward athletic bodies, the COVID-19 home-fitness boom, and events like the Beijing Winter Olympics. It notes over 50,000 fitness clubs, 100+ million fitness app users, and market projections to $82.8 billion by 2024 (11% CAGR). Competition is covered (Nike leads, but locals like Anta and Li Ning are gaining), along with how the agency helps foreign brands with digital marketing, e-commerce, and KOL partnerships.
- https://nofalapparel.com/9-best-sportswear-manufacturers-in-china/ (Published Nov 2025) A practical guide listing top sportswear manufacturers in China suitable for startups and custom orders. It covers factories specializing in custom sports apparel, private labeling, quality control, and global shipping—useful for anyone looking to source directly.
- https://www.spftex.com/news/top-5-custom-sportswear-manufacturers-in-china2026-why-choose-china/ (2026 update) Overview of why China is ideal for custom sportswear production (scale, speed, innovation, cost-efficiency) plus a comparison of 5 leading manufacturers. It includes details on specializations like functional activewear, sustainable materials, OEM/ODM services, and low MOQs—great for brands seeking suppliers.
Conclusion: The Industry Inflection Point Has Arrived – Will You Ride the Wave or Watch from the Sidelines?
Data shows that Tmall still holds a 54.3% share of the online sports casual footwear market – that’s half the battlefield. But the opportunity is not just the millions of orders in front of you; it’s the overall upgrade of consumer mindset behind them – meaning new entrants, new customer structures, and new room for premium pricing.
High‑value users (88VIP) are now approaching 60 million – the core fuel for growth. Tmall’s 2026 business strategy is centered on “significantly increasing merchant returns and building AI operational capabilities for brands.” The platform is opening a big door to all sportswear brands. The key question: are you ready?
Sportswear sits in the most certain growth channel in China’s consumer sector. Data doesn’t lie. Trends are clear. Facing this wave of growth, will your brand sprint ahead, or will it be left far behind by competitors at the next major sales event?