Keeping Pace with Fashion’s Most Demanding Consumers: How MAS Is Building for Speed, Scale and Complexity
From pickleball to HYROX, alternative sports and the mainstreaming of wellness as a lifestyle commitment, the global activewear market’s rapid expansion is being matched by an equally rapid fragmentation of what consumers expect from brands.
The global activewear market is projected to surge past $400 billion in 2026 as traditional and new sports alike propel demand for novel silhouettes and performance expectations.
The ability to drive innovation while adjusting in real time to evolving demands across micro-categories is challenging. South Asia’s largest apparel-tech firm, MAS Holdings, believes the real opportunity in activewear is in versatility.
“When we talk about activewear today, we’re really talking about a category that means different things to different people, and our role is to make sure that we’re creating the right product that helps them thrive in their chosen activity or sport,” says Nemanthie Kooragamage, Director of Product Innovation for the Activewear value stream at MAS.
Decoding the new activewear consumer
The pandemic accelerated an evolution already underway in activewear. Wellness became a central part of daily life, and consumers began to view movement not as an occasional activity, but as an essential element of wellbeing. The rise in recreational physical activity has been a significant driver of this change, as awareness of the benefits of physical fitness grows.
“Activewear is no longer limited to athletes or gym users. It now includes everyday consumers who are incorporating movement into their lifestyles,” says Kooragamage, explaining that participation in sport and exercise is broadening well beyond traditional gym culture, as more people turn to leisure pursuits to manage stress and support their overall wellbeing.
This is leading to a market that is fragmenting as it grows. New activity formats — Padel, Pickleball, HYROX, ultra-endurance, hot yoga — are each generating their own dedicated communities, and with them, many different requirements from the activewear products that they use. This might mean that a sports bra engineered for the gym may not perform adequately for running; or a legging built for studio sessions has different demands than one designed for high-intensity training. What activewear brands must offer their customers is becoming more complex as a result.
A consumer-led approach
For MAS, product development starts with listening, and then interpreting consumer insights, market trends and the context of an evolving world. “Data plays a major role,” says Kooragamage, “but data alone is not enough. The key lies in how our teams interpret and apply that information.” Consumer sentiment tools, direct research, prototype testing and AI-informed trend analysis all feed into the process; but it is the translation of that insight into product that defines the outcome.
Women now account for more than half of the global activewear market, and their evolving expectations are reshaping the category. They are looking for pieces that feel easy but still functional: relaxed, shaped silhouettes, freedom of movement, and versatility across the studio, commute, and everyday life. Even a basic crew t-shirt is expected to deliver softness, breathability, and mobility as standard, reflecting how much more consumers now demand from activewear.
Given these expectations, MAS must consider a number of factors when making decisions about product across every category: does this improve the consumer’s experience; can it be delivered at the right cost; and is it built for longevity, with sustainability at its core?
With the Company’s Plan for Change 2030 commitments on climate and emissions, and brand partners driving their own decarbonisation commitments, that last question is an important one, built into the process from the outset. Kooragamage sees a clear convergence between performance-based natural materials and the durability consumers increasingly expect: sustainability and performance, she says, now go hand in hand.
Where insight becomes product
But the real test of any product philosophy is in the product itself. Across activewear tops and bottoms, MAS draws on proprietary technologies, backed by decades of experience, to close the gap between consumer insight and market-ready performance.
In examples such as engineered knit, precision knit mapping and athlete data place breathability, stretch and recovery exactly where the body needs them, within a seamless construction that does not compromise on aesthetics.
Another example is how biomechanics lab testing addresses one of the category’s most persistent frustrations: waistbands that roll during high-intensity workouts. This data provides waistband engineering with a solution anchored in scientific insight.
Kooragamage also shares how the Activewear team has worked with proprietary MAS compression technology to map to key muscle groups, enabling a silicone-based inner-surface technology operating at a fabric level to deliver a micro-massaging effect post-workout. Bonded and no-sew builds can offer clean edges for products like polos and cross-occasion pieces that need to move between sport, work, and everyday life without compromise.
Built to move at the speed of the market
While enhancements in technology need to keep up with the evolving needs of the category, speed to market has increasingly become a commercial requirement, prompting MAS to build its operating model around it.
Pre-developed technology platforms, fabric and innovation libraries, and strong co-creation processes mean development cycles can be compressed without starting from scratch. “We have supported brands in going from concept to product within a month for specific opportunities,” says Kooragamage.
That speed is inseparable from depth of available options. “In many cases, by the time a brand raises a need, we are already working on it,” she explains. MAS functions not only as a solution provider, but as a thought partner that anticipates where the category is moving and develops capabilities ahead of demand.
The available solutions encompass five key capabilities: knit technology leadership, assembly innovation, fit heritage, sport and category expertise led by science, and co-creation capability — all under one roof.
“From yarn value addition to biomechanics-validated fit, to a finished product that wins in market — that end-to-end capability is what we bring to our brand partners,” adds Kooragamage.
The activewear consumer of tomorrow spans many variables. “The category is being democratised,” says Kooragamage. “The person buying activewear today comes in every age, every size, every level of activity. The opportunity and the responsibility is to make sure no one is left behind. With 38 years of expertise, technology investment, and an integrated end-to-end capability, MAS has strategically positioned itself to meet exactly that challenge.
See how men’s tops, women’s bottoms, swimwear, and sports bras come to life behind the scenes at MAS.
To learn more about MAS Holdings’ innovation capabilities and activewear expertise, visit: https://www.masholdings.com.