‘Outdoor look’ fad grows into demand for athletic gear

Ryu Soo-hyun, a 26-year-old living in Gunpo, just south of Seoul, recently bought a pair of padded bicycle shorts, which are designed to help cushion some of the impact from bumpy rides, to wear during her weekly cycling trips.

“I started riding my bicycle for fun as well as to get some light exercise, so at first I was mostly looking for clothes that I would look good in,” Ryu said.

“Now that it’s become a serious hobby, I find myself looking for more practical apparel rather than just considering the stylishness of my outfits.”

Like Ryu, more people in South Korea have begun to look for sports items or clothes with a focus on function and practicality instead of merely trying to re-create an athletic ambience for the sake of style.

The so-called “outdoor look,” in which people buy and wear athletic apparel simply for its style, has been in vogue in South Korea for some time now, and has played a significant role in helping the sports-related retail industry here grow to its current size.

The outdoor apparel and goods market in South Korea was estimated at some 6.9 trillion won ($5.7 billion) as of last year, up nearly 35-fold from the 200 billion won registered in the year 2000, according to industry data.

Likewise, television commercials in which hotshot actors are trekking in the mountains in neon-colored windbreakers are commonplace, and seeing men and women keeping warm in style with down jackets made for sportswear in chilly weather is pretty much a standard part of urban life here.

Recently, however, as more South Koreans are taking up sports as a hobby, the outdoor style boom seems to be transitioning into another type of trend.

For Ryu, this shift is quite evident within her circle of exercise buddies.

“One of my friends did the same thing as well — rather than spend her money to simply look sporty, she bought a wearable device to strap on her wrist during bike rides to help track her speed and pace, and evaluate her overall performance,” she said.

This emerging trend can be seen in people’s online shopping patterns as well.

According to 11st Street, one of South Korea’s major online retailers, sales of hiking boots on its website during the first eight months of the year spiked 160 percent from a year earlier.

More customers sought out aquatic sports gear as well, with the sale of rashguards and wetsuits shooting up 190 percent and 56 percent, respectively, over the cited period. Sales of equipment for skin scuba diving climbed 34 percent.

Overall, outdoor sports-related items saw a 20 percent jump in sales during the eight-month period this year.

“With the rising popularity of aquatic sports this summer, people gravitated toward more functional swimwear with protective features for avoiding injuries from outdoor activities,” an 11st Street official said.

The newly rising wave was especially visible among female consumers during this year’s summer season.