Luxury Brands Continue To Lead The Underwear Market

Luxury market forecasting firm Fashionbi revealed that the luxury undergarment segment has already surpassed the growth of the lingerie market itself. According to Fashionbi Mila CEO Ambika Zutshi, women are no longer satisfied with just buying what is available on the market. They will look for what fits them and makes them comfortable.

“Today’s woman is conscious, working, and needs comfort at all stages of life. She also needs to be and feel sexy all the time. She is independent and able to afford all charms of life to spoil herself and to seduce her man. Hence, the luxury lingerie market can really expect an exceptional growth in its segment,” Zutshi told Luxury Daily.

According to the firm's own popularity index® ranking, amongst the top ten luxury lingerie brands today (as of May 3, 2015), the most popular ones are Victoria’s Secret, Macy’s and Gisele Bündchen Intimates. In 2014, several luxury underwear brands have sprung up on the market, and a large number of them started to gain popularity on the Web.

Among which is Canadian company Naked Brand Group, Inc., which now enjoys massive online attention for its high-quality micromodal underwear line and other comfort-centric products. The Canadian company is also known for not hiring A-list celebrities for its advertisements, as it strongly believes in the power of truthful and honest advertising. Naked, which only caters to male consumers, will also release a comfort-centric underwear line for women in the near future.

Specialised undergarments are also making waves online these days. Australian-based New Zealand start-up Confitex is set to put an end to the growing need for fashionable incontinence underwear in the region after its innovative products became a hot topic among incontinence patients on the Web.

British startup Vanilla Blush’s undergarments for ostomates are also receiving the same amount of attention, as functional and fashionable underwear for ostomy patients remains non-existent on the market today.

The Global Underwear Market

According to yStats.com, mainstream brands will remain lucrative in 2015, and a large number of emerging brands is expected to join the global market in 2016. Product segments with untapped potential in several advanced markets such as functional underwear and plus-size lingerie will experience growth and will eventually dictate a market trend in the North American and European region. E-commerce brands, or the companies that operate solely or largely on the Internet, will experience fast growths this year as more and more consumers discover the ease of online shopping.

China is currently the most competitive underwear market in the world. With its over 3,000 underwear company, the market is expected to reach double digit figures. Japan, on the other hand, will experience a decline in sales due to its decreasing population and consumer shift to cheaper items.

Change in women’s employment rules will also alter the underwear market in Middle East and South Africa.

Contact the writer: a.lu@ibtimes.com.au