Leggings price gap tops 3x as athleisure market grows more complex

As global athleisure brands continue to enter the South Korean market, domestic players such as Xexymix are pushing into overseas markets in return, reshaping the competitive landscape. Korean brands are leaning on product differentiation and pricing to expand their footprint across Asia.

According to industry sources Thursday, domestic athleisure brands including Xexymix and Andar are pursuing strategies that set them apart from global premium labels on price, core customer base, product lineup and brand positioning.

The gap is most visible in leggings — the flagship product for both sides. Xexymix's Black Label Signature 360N Leggings, part of a series that has sold a cumulative 3.2 million pairs, retails for 59,000 won ($44). By contrast, Lululemon's Align High-Rise Pants sell for 138,000 won, Alo's 7/8 High-Waist Airlift Leggings for 190,000 won, and Vuori's All Day Foam Leggings for 155,000 won.

A price gap of more than three times at the top end suggests that framing the competition between global and domestic brands purely as a market-share battle misses the point, analysts say. The market is better understood as one that is segmenting — with consumers sorting themselves by brand values, price tolerance and fitness goals.

The competitive dynamic runs in both directions. Just as overseas brands see South Korea as a new growth market, Korean athleisure labels are expanding abroad, primarily across Asia. Their advantages include product lines tailored to Asian body types and tastes, competitive pricing, and experience in e-commerce. They are applying product development and marketing know-how built at home to local markets while broadening their offline retail networks.

Xexymix is extending its reach beyond established markets in Japan and Taiwan into Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Thailand. Its Japan subsidiary posted sales of 11.1 billion won ($8.29 million) in the first half of this year, up 40.2 percent from the same period a year earlier. Its Taiwan subsidiary recorded 5.2 billion won in sales, a gain of 18.8 percent. In Japan, the brand is adding permanent stores in prime commercial districts, while in Taiwan it is broadening its sales base through a mix of permanent stores, showrooms and pop-up shops.

Growth is continuing in Southeast Asia as well. Sales in Indonesia more than doubled in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year. The brand opened its first official store there in June, extending its sales channels offline. In Thailand, Xexymix has signed a sales agreement with a major local retailer to build out its business base.

Andar is also accelerating its overseas expansion. The brand operates offline businesses in Singapore and Australia, and in June it established a local subsidiary in Japan to formally launch its push into that market. It has also set up a subsidiary in the United States — the world's largest athleisure market — to lay the groundwork for a direct entry.

"The entry of global brands is broadening consumer awareness of and options in the athleisure market," a Xexymix official said. "Because each brand differs in price range, target customer and product strategy, we see this less as a simple domestic-versus-foreign competition and more as a market that is becoming increasingly segmented. Xexymix plans to build on its growth experience in Japan and Taiwan to strengthen its competitiveness in Southeast Asia and other overseas markets."