By Mia Aitken
As we all move to what feels like some sort of normality in the aftermath of the worst of the pandemic, there seems to always be something to hinder our excitement of freedom. An increase in the price of living is affecting everything we buy, or choose not to, and that includes clothes.
Post lockdowns, everyone seems to be in love with either fitness or their sofa – usually the former. As a result, active wear has been a home run for sales in retail, especially with summer just around the corner.
But people are now asking the question, is it too expensive to get fit?
Clothing prices pushing inflation up
UK inflation has stayed at a near 30-year high after rising further in January as Britain remains in the grip of a cost-of-living squeeze, according to official figures. The price of clothing in particular has pushed inflation up.
“During the lockdown it was easy to get in a very sedentary lifestyle and as I was made redundant from my job I found it hard to feed my children the nutritious meals I once did,” said Sharon Thornham, 40, mother of six children.
“In doing so more junk food has entered our house and I do have a couple of pounds I wish to lose but it seems so much harder, especially when food and even activewear seem like double the price.”
Sweaty Betty is a British retailer specialising in women’s activewear, founded by Tamara and Simon Hill-Norton. It has over 50 boutiques in the United Kingdom, six boutiques in the United States and concessions in department stores Harrods and Bloomingdale’s.
Grace Smith, 26, a Store Manager at Sweaty Betty, says “Since the new year our best selling Power Leggings have gone up from £75 to £80, most of our customers do not mind paying the extra but as the cost of living has gone up, we are noticing people being more mindful of their purchases.”
One the other hand, opening at the very same time that Sweaty Betty opened their doors was Lululemon, another activewear brand for women that has now branched out to include men’s activewear as well.
The pie chart presents which activewear brand women prefer and where they would rather spend their hard-hit money.
Eloise Williams, 18, full-time personal trainer, says: “I prefer Sweaty Betty, as it feels like a more personal experience when shopping there. It is also nice to know that it is a London-based brand, besides their quality and high compression leggings are well worth that extra £5!”
Lack of staff and Brexit
A decrease in the number of people working in retail due to the pandemic has also affected sales and made prices of athleisure soar, along with difficulties caused due to Brexit and the war in Ukraine.
Simon Wolfson, Chief executive of Next, said the government needs to make it easier for foreign workers to come to the UK. He told the Guardian that its overall prices – which mean both clothing and homeware – are expected to rise this autumn by 8 percent.
To stop the rising prices, he asked the government to “reverse the self-defeating barriers it has placed on overseas workers supporting our economy and accelerate, simplify and reform the planning process to increase the supply of desperately needed housing”.
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