Almost 2,300 exhibitors from 50 countries and over 55,000 participants from 113 countries came together at the Ispo Munich sporting goods trade fair over the last three days. In addition to the presentation of new collections and products, the focus of the event was primarily on the exchange and further development of the industry. The trade fair was characterized by conferences and panel discussions on various sports and health topics, as well as keynote speeches by sports legends such as tennis icon Andre Agassi and national coach Julian Nagelsmann.
The trade fair has seen great potential for the sports market in the area of health for many years. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on stage in the Ispo Future Lab that 81 percent of children and young people worldwide are not sufficiently active, which causes billions of dollars in economic damage every year and has an enormous impact on the entire health system. According to current RKI surveys, things aren’t looking any better for adults. “If we could bring these people into sport, it would be a new target group with a market volume as big as China or India,” said Marina Moguš, Managing Director Adidas Central Europe during the panel discussion.
New impulses: Fabletics from the USA and emerging Chinese brands
Fabletics must have been happy about a brilliant ISPO premiere. Actress Kate Hudson’s US fitness brand, which already operates around 100 stores in its home market, has so far only appeared in Europe as a DTC brand. That should now change. “We know that we now have a high level of brand awareness in Europe,” says Daniel Klarkowski, VP Brand Marketing of Fabletics Europe, “but the only way to get to know our products was online. “In addition, there were simply not enough contact options.” That’s why Fabletics is now looking for partners in retail and wholesale who want to take up the brand and present it to consumers. The feedback so far has been great, says Klarkowski. “Trade is looking for something new and the exhibition stand here helps us a lot.”
The Chinese brand Uppervoid is also looking for dealers who want to try something new. Founded only around four years ago, the company relies on traditional, Tibetan-looking looks and combines them with high-tech materials. “Traditional outdoor manufacturers don’t see a jacket as a jacket, but as a tool,” says CEO and founder Vis Bi. He wants to replace this purely technical relationship with a more emotional one, and instead of the usual performance idea in sports, he wants to focus on proximity to nature . The first dealers are already in France and Italy. European sales are controlled from Zurich. Numerous Chinese brands that are still relatively unknown in this country, such as Bosideng, Tanboer and Kailas, also presented themselves in the Ispo Awards area.
Zeitgeist & 520 M show the connection between sport and fashion
Fashion and sport have been growing together for years. This applies in many ways: on the one hand in terms of materials, as fashion collections increasingly adapt the comfort and weather protection of sports and outdoor collections, and on the other hand the aesthetics of sport continue to inspire fashion designers.
The Ispo has devoted a lot of space to presenting this merger. The trade fair presented an enlarged “Zeitgeist” area, which celebrated its premiere last year and brought some new brands to Munich through the partnership with the Copenhagen CIFF fashion fair. Right next door, the 520 M area curated by Highsnobiety complemented the topic with other brands and lectures and discussion groups. Brands such as Veja, And Wander, Quartz Co., Adidas Terrex, Mazine, Vuori, Douchebags etc. exhibited here and presented themselves in a uniform, clean stand design.
“The trade fair was very successful for us,” says Niko Petrakis from Mazine. The brand primarily supplies small boutiques and concept stores with its fashionable and sustainably oriented collection and saw itself in good hands in the Zeitgeist Area. “We definitely see that sports retailers are interested in fashionable collections; the two now belong together,” Petrakis continued. “The first two days of the trade fair were really good.”
Eystein Wang, CEO of the Scandinavian Edition brand, believes that sales in fashion and sports retail are difficult. Although he offers functional outerwear, he focuses exclusively on the fashion trade. “The sports retailer simply reduces prices far too early and thereby devalues the products,” says Wang. This is the main reason why fashion retailers are withdrawing from sport and are instead looking for alternative functional collections.
One of the new exhibitors in the Zeitgeist Area was the German underwear manufacturer Mey, which presented its performance line for the first time at Ispo and thus heralded its entry into the sports business. The base layer collection received an Ispo Award for its innovative knit construction with microloops and a mixture of virgin wool and polyester Coolmax. “My grandfather actually had the idea for this material,” explains Matthias Mey, Managing Director of the Mey Group, “but the technical possibilities didn’t exist back then.”
More emotions for online trading
The digitalization of supply chains and trade continues to progress. As an innovation in the retail sector, the Guruu company presented collaborations with Dynafit and Jack Wolfskin. Guruu wants to emotionalize online retail and has created a community model in which customers themselves become brand ambassadors and product advisors. Using the Guruu platform integrated into the online shop, those seeking advice can contact people who Jack Wolfskin has previously selected as part of its loyalty program and trained as product experts. These are connected directly to the shoppers via a chat on a commission basis and offer advice. An AI decides which question is forwarded to classic customer service or to the expert community.
New materials: moving away from petroleum
The sports and outdoor industry has always had a penchant for new materials. While the focus used to be on even more powerful or lighter materials, in recent years the focus has been on sustainable alternatives to high-tech fibers. The elastane manufacturer Lycra presented its entry into bio-based textile chemistry and announced the establishment of the world’s first commercial production of “Qira” in the USA. Qira is made from industrial corn and can replace a main component of elastane fiber, which significantly reduces its ecological footprint compared to corresponding products made from fossil raw materials. Nothing changes in terms of the functionality of the fiber. “The only difference between petroleum-based Lycra and the new Lycra is that in the first case the carbon is very old and in the second case it is very young,” explains Steven Stewart, Chief Brand & Innovation Officer at The Lycra Company.
Many more innovative material developments are in the pipeline, as the Material Lab at the trade fair impressively demonstrated. The idea of converting fungi, enzymes, algae and many other plant-based raw materials into yarns, dyes or textile-like surfaces is no longer just crazy. For example, the Institute for Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen University presented the LightLining material as part of the Biotexfuture project. This is a lightweight, super-insulating nonwoven fabric for sportswear made from cellulose airgel nonwovens. “Commercialization of this project is now starting,” says Nicole Espey from the Biotexfuture project.
