It’s the sector that spawned “casual Friday” but there’s one fashion trend yet to infiltrate the business world – sporty luxe. But although leggings are still not considered pants in executive suites around the country, the off-duty look championed by a variety of brands from Nike to Chanel is becoming more of a smart investment decision than a style staple.

The leisurewear business boomed in Australia in 2014 following big international players such as Net-A-Porter launching its athletic-inspired diffusion site, Net-A-Sporter, and hometown hero Style Runner attracting international investor attention.

Blame it on fitness fan Julie Bishop and her highly publicised daily jogs or the plethora of high-end sportswear collaborations by the likes of Alexander Wang and Stella McCartney but women are driving this burgeoning trend, according to analysts in the United States.

Sales of women’s activewear reached $14 billion in 2013, a 9 per cent increase on 2012’s figures, according to research group NPD – the same group which expects the market to grow at a similar pace for the next three years.

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In its latest annual report, Nike president and chief executive Mark Parker specifically cited women’s ranges as a standout performer and avenue of unprecedented growth.

“Our women’s business grew at a faster rate than our men’s business in 2014-15, reaching nearly $5 billion [$6.15 billion] of wholesale equivalent revenues for the year,” he said in his letter to shareholders.

GROWTH CATEGORY TO WATCH

Back home, high-end activewear is now considered the growth category to watch this year.

“I was seeing the same things in New York, Sydney and Hawaii, young people were all carrying yoga mats or gear, still dressed in the clothes they wore to the gym having coffee or lunch with friends. It’s inclusive, it suits everybody and looks great on everybody,” The Upside founder and former wife of Crown’s James Packer, Jodhi Meares, tells Life & Leisure.

In its first year, the Australian workout wear brand was stocked by the biggest international retailers, including Urban Outfitters and Matches Fashion.

“We have seen attitudes across the board change rapidly and the acceptance of our brand by huge players like Net-A-Porter has certainly been surprising, although it’s a testament to just how significant its impact of activewear and leisurewear has been,” Meares says.

And there is a new player in the field. Deborah Symond has just launched her new luxury leisurewear e-boutique, Mode Sportif.

Before launching her start-up late last year – and becoming the exclusive online Australian retailer to stock the popular adidas originals by Mary Katrantzou Collection – the 26-year-old entrepreneur, daughter of Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond, spent two years researching this “off-duty” and “elevated basics” phenomenon.

John Symond, who now acts as his daughter’s business mentor and prides himself on “questioning every bill and never wasting money”, provided seed financing for the e-boutique after sensing a case of déjà vu when examining Deborah’s business case.

“What appealed to me was the fact that Deborah came up with a similar idea to Aussie Home Loans, where we aggregate different lenders under the one roof and give customers choice,” John Symond tellsLife & Leisure.

“Deborah has, in many ways, mirrored this by looking at what she believes are the coolest, best brands out there and the best products for sports activewear for women and she’s aggregated them.

“Where we’ve got hundreds and hundreds of loans from different lenders, Deborah has got garments from different manufacturers and it’s providing women an easy way to choose and buy. There’s a lot of similarities in the fundamentals of my vision that changed the whole mortgage landscape; what Deborah is doing, by coincidence, is very similar.

“If I was a woman I’d be wearing it, but she’d need a bigger size for me,” he laughs.

ONE-STOP SHOP

Mode Sportif is a one-stop shop for luxury shoppers to mix and match luxury basics, accessories and activewear from leading international labels such as Lucas Hugh, a brand that has grown 100 per cent year on year since its inception in 2010 and turned over more than $1.4 million in sales in 2013.

“We are fulfilling what I see as being a gap in the market. Mode Sportif is the first pure online player to bring together this premium and curated edit of activewear and weekend wear,” Deborah says.

There are websites dedicated to activewear and some which focus on a broad range of products, from cocktail dresses to performance trainers, but there is no direct competitor with our mix of premium designers and lifestyle and leisure-focused offering.

“We are not trend focused. The philosophy of the brand is built around a lifestyle, and we will evolve and grow to support the changing needs of our customers’ ‘off-duty’ wardrobe.”

Mode Sportif now has a team of seven who are based at the site’s Surry Hills headquarters. Deborah’s sales target projections for year one is $2 million while profit margins vary between 30 to 70 per cent in what she calls the competitive space of online retail.

“We are on track with our sales targets for the first 12 months and we are building our presence and community around us, month-on-month,” she says. “We already have a high average spend sitting at $450 and our goal is to continue to convert multiple sales as we have been and to further increase this already strong average shopping bag.”

Customer experience and building a community around the site are Deborah’s short-term goals for the stylish and slick-looking start-up.

For this goal, order fulfilment, stock management, pick and packing are all managed in house.

A marketing and digital facing publicity strategy with a heavy focus on social media channels, which have already amassed more than 12,000 fans, is also paramount for the brand.

METICULOUS PLANNING

While there are a number of players in the local activewear retail space, John says Mode Sportif’s success will be in its forward planning.

“When Stylerunner launched – which has a different offering for a different demographic – I thought ‘God, we’ve got a problem’ but Deborah was cool, she investigated who they were, what they were offering and discovered it wasn’t her target market,” he says. “Then when Net-A-Porter brought out Net-A-Sporter, there were a couple of brands that overlap, but she said ‘My site, my leisurewear has a very different market’.

“I get a daily report where there are customers from Luxembourg, New York, Hong Kong but she’s really aimed for this domestic market. But because it’s online she’s tracking customers from all over the world and that’s a bonus,” he says.

“Businesses that start zigging end up zagging because customers’ needs and consumer behaviour changes so fast. And it’s accelerating, and Deborah’s business is no different . . . I’ll make sure she is in a position to make any sort of changes or enhancements to her business model whenever it’s needed to make sure it’s right on the pace.”

Deborah, who already blogs and cut her teeth in fashion retail, is ready for the next step, perhaps even a lunge in the direction of design to create her own luxury leisurewear range.

“Watch this space,” she says.

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