Vans became the fastest-growing brand in Piper Jaffray’s semi-annual Taking Stock With Teens survey while overtaking Nike as the No. 1 footwear brand among upper-income females. But Nike/Jordan improved mindshare as “top trend” and positive momentum with teens was also seen for Adidas, Lululemon, Champion, Crocs and several other brands in the active lifestyle space.

The 36th semi-annual survey for fall 2018 found athletic brands overall remain dominant, led by a “staggering gain” in mindshare from Vans. Nike is still No. 1 brand for footwear and apparel with teens but share is rebalancing towards Adidas, which has gained share in its No. 3 position in both footwear and apparel categories. Adidas first broke out in Piper Jaffray’s survey data in spring 2016.

Lululemon also “picked up meaningfully” according to the survey data, particularly as a preferred athletic brand where it is firmly in the No. 2 spot behind Nike for female teens.

Beyond styling, the athletic space appears to be benefiting from a “broad resurgence” in interest from teens in “brands” over “fashion.” Forty-five percent of teens indicated “brand” is most important in making a purchase versus 33 percent six years ago.

The trend toward 1990s and streetwear styles also continues to help some brands in the active and urban space.  Brands riding mindshare gains with teens as a result of those trends include Tommy Hilfiger, Supreme, Calvin Klein and Champion as well as luxury brands including Off-White, Balenciaga and Gucci.

Overall, 34 percent of preferred apparel brands by teens are “athletic,” up from 33 percent last spring but off the 41 percent spring 2017 peak. The trend toward “athletic” preference has picked up steadily over the last 10 years from about 7 percent in 2008.

In athletic footwear, the big positive is continued gains with female teens. Seventy-one percent for female teens prefer an athletic brand of footwear, up from 67 percent last year. Eighty-five percent of male teens prefer an athletic brand of footwear similar to the 86 percent last fall.

Among brands called out in the active lifestyle space:

  • Vans, which is owned by VF Corp., became the fastest-growing brand in Piper Jaffray’s survey, landing as the No. 2 footwear brand in preference and expanding 800 basis points year over year. The biggest increases came from females, where Vans unseated Nike as the No. 1 brand among upper-income females. Vans is also the No. 3 “top trend” cited among teens.
  • The North Face, also owned by VF Corp, gained share sequentially.
  • Nike is still the No. 1 brand in Piper Jaffray’s survey but mindshare declines in both apparel & footwear have come as brands like Adidas, Vans and among women, Lululemon, have gained. Overall, Nike has 41 percent share as a preferred footwear brand and 22 percent share as a preferred apparel brand. On the positive side, Nike/Jordan did pick up share as a “top trend” among males. Nike also saw preference solidifying among upper-income teens, indicating that the mindshare declines could be bottoming.
  • Converse, also owned by Nike Inc., saw its mindshare declines continue, led by females.
  • Adidas ranked as the No. 3 apparel & footwear brand overall and saw 14 percent share in footwear and 6 percent share in apparel – both hitting new peaks.
  • Lululemon saw its huge jump in preference as an “athletic” apparel brand, landing at No. 3 among upper-income teens, with mindshare increasing from 7 percent to 12 percent year-over-year. Lululemon is seeing the most significant share gains among females, but is also up-trending with male teens.
  • Under Armour’s mindshare ranking in apparel across genders improved to 12 versus 15 in the prior two surveys. UA was the No. 12 footwear brand, similar to last year. Among males, Under Armour improved from No. 10 (2 percent share) in fall 2017 to No. 7 (3 percent) in fall 2018 as a preferred apparel brand. As an athletic brand, share has moderated as Adidas and Lululemon have gained. Still, Under Armour is being cited as the No. 1 “old” brand that males are no longer
  • Supreme remains a top-10 apparel brand among upper-income males, albeit losing some share year-over-year. The brand landed for the second straight year among the top-10 apparel brands for average income male teens.
  • Champion ranked as the No. 13 favorite apparel brand with upper-income males, improving from No. 44 year-over-year. The brand ranked as No. 15 favorite apparel brand for average-income males versus No. 40 last year.
  • Crocs reached the top-20 ranking as preferred footwear brand for the first time overall, hitting No. 12 for upper-income teens and No. 13 for average-income teens. Crocs’ mindshare grew from 0.2 percent to 0.6 percent year-over-year.
  • Sperry was the No. 9 ranked brand among all teens at 1 percent share, marking the boat-shoe specialist’s lowest rank in Piper Jaffray’s survey since spring 2011. The ranking was down from No. 5 in spring 2017 and No. 7 in fall 2017. Sperry is resonating more with males than females.

The survey highlights discretionary spending trends and brand preferences amongst 8,600 teens across 48 U.S. states with an average age of 16. The Piper Jaffray’s analyst team was led by Erinn Murphy, Michael Olson and Nicole Miller Regan.

Photo courtesy Vans