Athletic apparel maker Fabletics is launching its first denim collection, the company announced Tuesday, signaling the once white hot athleisure category is starting to slow down.The collection, launching online and in select stores on Thursday, will include 11 styles and seven washes across both women’s and men’s. Items will be priced between $79.95 and $174.95, depending on whether shoppers are members of Fabletics’ subscription program. “We’ve had over a million of our customers tell us that if Fabletics offered denim, they’d be highly interested in it, and that’s really what got us started on our journey of expanding into the denim category,” Fabletics co-founder and CEO Adam Goldenberg told CNBC in an interview. “We do believe denim is on an upswing. We’ve seen that, you know, we started [looking into denim] over two years ago, so it’s the right time.” Fabletics denim.Courtesy: FableticsFabletics, which earned more than $1 billion in revenue last year, is expanding into denim as consumer preferences change. The “soft” type of dressing that became popular during the pandemic, featuring comfortable joggers, sports bras and hoodies, has fallen out of favor with some shoppers.Instead, as hybrid work begins to fade, many consumers are choosing to dress back up again and are opting for denim over leggings as the casual staple that works both on the weekends and at the office. While the athleisure market is still expanding, that rate of growth has wobbled in North America, data from market intelligence company Euromonitor International show. The sports apparel market is projected to grow 2.3% in North America in 2026 from 2025, down from 3.1% between 2023 and 2024. Meanwhile, the denim market is expected to grow 2.1% this year, up from 0.7% between 2023 and 2024. Globally, the athleisure market grew 2% last year while the denim market grew 4%, according to separate figures from GlobalData. Fabletics denim.Courtesy: Fabletics”What we found coming out of the pandemic is like, comforts become king,” said Goldenberg. “So even now, as consumers are, I would say, dressing up more they’re still wanting to do it …
