How the sports bra undercut the underwire

theguardian.com:

The sports bra, once a neglected piece of gym kit, has officially become a wardrobe staple for women as comfortable bras chip away at the hegemony of the underwire in the working-from-home era.

In the past 12 months, the number of sports bras sold in Britain has jumped by a third to 7.1m as women swap underwired-cup oppression for stretchy elastic heaven. In sales terms, spending on sports bras jumped by a quarter to £72.3m to account for nearly 10% of total bra sales, according to retail analysts Kantar.

This bra revolution has not gone unnoticed. This week statisticians revealed that sports and crop top-style bras had been added to the list of 700 products used to calculate the inflation rate. In its annual shake-up, the Office for National Statistics also revealed men were being freed of their shackles as the traditional suit – present in the basket since its inception in 1947 – was axed.

The pandemic had helped to increase Britons’ awareness of fitness, with many people working out at home during lockdown periods, the ONS said. “With this has come a rise in expenditure on sports clothing,” it said.

But analysts suggest women are buying sports bras with Netflix rather than Joe Wicks’ workouts in mind, as the lifestyle changes triggered by pandemic lockdowns turbocharged the catwalk-led “athleisure” trend for sportswear as fashion.

“We are seeing a massive increase in demand for anything athleisure-related,” said Rebecca Watterson, a consumer insight director in Kantar’s fashion team. “So even though the [bra] market declined during the pandemic and is now flat, people are buying into sports bras.”

“We saw a big uptick in people doing sport during lockdown, but the reason we are being given for buying sports bras is general