lothing, sports footwear). The separation of sports clothing from sports footwear reflects the importance that sector has to the whole market. It is not very easy to segment that particular market because the delimitation between active sportswear and leisure sportswear is not clear. Some people usually wear many items of sports clothing on leisure or sports time. Whereas the sports clothing market has not seen any great changes within the last three years, it has taste a steady growth and now it has 52% of total sports goods sales and approximately 7% of all clothing. (Mintel – Sports Clothing, November 1998) Many of the trends that were obvious in 1995 have become more determined. Some of the most important between these are the increasing influence of fashion over the youth market and the heightened interest in active lifestyles. Whether they are actually participating or not, being seen to be wearing active gear is highly desirable for the 15-24 year old age group. An older market, people who are ‘staying younger longer’ and leading more active lifestyles, is also increasingly embracing outdoor sportswear. (Mintel – Sports Clothing, November 1998)Mintel estimates sales of sports clothing to be worth some 2 billion in 1998, although much of this is dependent on the youth market. As the youth population (15-24 year olds) is forecast to increase by 3.5% by 2002, the core market will be larger and sustainable growth will be easier to achieve. The older generation is on the increase as the 'baby boom' population bubble ages. However, very little of the sportswear on offer from the leading manufacturers is designed for older age groups or tastes. (Mintel – Sports Clothing, November 1998) In the sports market the leading brands are quite a lot. A big number of those leading brands still dominate the sports clothing market. However, with the increasing fashionability of sports clothing many traditional fashi...
