Dive Brief:

• U.S. apparel sales grew 2% last year and jeans fell 1%, while activewear sales rose 9% to $33 billion.

• While brands like Under Armor and Nike have been posting healthy sales the past year, observers give the most credit to Lululemon, which has had success the past several years in getting women to pay top dollar for yoga pants and other fitness apparel.

• The space is heating up, though, with several top designers hopping on the activewear bandwagon and companies like The Gap’s Athleta getting very competitive with its products and prices.

Dive Insight:

Activewear this year does not mean last decade’s Juicy Couture velour track suit. This time around, it’s all about form-fitting, flattering apparel made of technologically advanced material designed to accommodate heavy workouts. However, the clothing is also meant to look good, too — so well-designed and so becoming as to be worthy of wearing to happy hour or even a casual day at the office. Lululemon, observers say, helped start this trend. But it remains to be seen whether it can win the battle it began.