According to Piper Jaffray’s Taking Stock With Teens research survey, Adidas, Vans, Birkenstock and Supreme are seeing some of the biggest gains in earning teens’ affection. The losers among the larger bands in the active space include Nike, Ugg and Under Armour.

With big losses among teen males, Nike lost between 600-800 basis points Y/Y (year-over-year) versus Fall 2016 of mindshare across apparel & footwear for teens in both upper-income and average-income levels, according to this year’s results.

“What surprised us most in our Fall 2017 Teen Survey was the stark decline of Nike,” Jaffray wrote in its first comments in the report. “In contrast, Adidas achieved new highs. Overall, larger brands are ceding share for small brands. Emerging on the scene was notable strength in streetwear (Vans, Supreme).”

Overall, the report found athletic apparel trends are moderating as Nike’s share losses are not being fully offset by the rise of Adidas. The semi-annual study, however, found “no slowdown” in demand for athletic footwear. Within footwear, a particularly strong athletic appetite is being seen by females (athletic now represents 73 percent of female footwear preferences vs. 67 percent last year). Newer trends in active include denim, Streetwear/culture & 1990s/retro.

The 34th semi-annual Taking Stock With Teens Fall survey included interviews with 6,100 teens across the U.S. with an average age of 15.9 years. The data was split into upper-income HH ($101k/year) and average-income HH ($55k/year).

Among the big-three athletic brands:

Nike (No. 1 brand) seeing more share loss from males vs. females

  • Preferred clothing: UI (upper income) males from 44 percent to 36 percent share Y/Y; AI (average income) males from 40 percent to 36 percent
  • Preferred footwear: UI males from 66 percent to 59 percent share Y/Y; AI males from 65 percent to 57 percent
  • Preferred clothing: UI females steady at 7 percent Y/Y; AI females from 12 percent to 11 percent
  • Preferred footwear: UI females steady at 30 percent Y/Y; AI females steady at 38 percent Y/Y
  • Nike/Jordan declined as “top-fashion trend for males” from 19 percent to 12 percent
  • As a performance athletic brand, Nike lost share among both genders & both categories

Adidas gaining share across both genders but more notably among males

  • Preferred clothing: UI and AI males saw the same move from 3 percent to 6 percent share Y/Y
  • Preferred footwear: UI males from 6 percent to 14 percent share Y/Y; AI males from 6 percent to 13 percent
  • Preferred clothing: Not in the top-ten for females of either income demographic
  • Preferred footwear: UI females from 5 percent to 7 percent Y/Y; AI females from 4 percent to 7 percent
  • Adidas is No. 1 “new” brand that males are wearing & No. 3 for females
  • As performance athletic brand, Adidas gained share among both genders & categories

Under Armour being boxed out by resurgent Adidas & retro-category growth

  • Preferred apparel brand (UI males), UAA fell out of top-ten, from No. 8 to No. 11 Y/Y
  • Preferred apparel brand (AI males), UAA fell from No. 6 to No. 9 Y/Y (2 percent share)
  • Among upper-income females, UAA only received one vote as preferred apparel brand
  • Under Armour still cited as the No. 1 “old” brand that males are no longer wearing

Among other key brands, Vans mindshare matched the highest level ever in Piper Jaffrey’s survey history at 12 percent (achieved once previously in Fall 2013). Women’s was driving the most significant piece of this increase (14 percent vs. 7 percent last year). For the first time, Vans ranked as the top-ten apparel brands with average-income teens (led by males). The skate brand was also listed as a top-ten fashion trend for males & females and an up & coming brand for both.

Among smaller brands, Supreme stood out, ranking in the Top 10 as preferred apparel brand for the first time. The streetwear brand also landed as the 7th in up & coming brands from males; as well as the number 10 preferred website.

Birkenstock for first time ranked as a top-five preferred footwear brand with upper-income teens.

On the downside, Ugg landed as the 16th preferred brand with upper-income females, down from 9 last year, marking the first time Ugg fell out of top-ten in over 10 years of surveys.

Other key findings in the report:

  • Overall teen spending moved down 4.4 percent year-over-year, while parent contribution to teen spend is 67 percent just below the long-term average of 68 percent.
  • Wallet shifts in fall 2017 include slight downtick for video games, slight uptick for clothing, and moderate downtick for food.
  • Food ticked down from 24 percent in spring 2017 to 22 percent in fall 2017, but remains larger than clothing at 20 percent.
  • Other big brand gains included: Amazon, Apple, American Eagle, Gucci, Starbucks and Tommy Hilfiger.
  • Other big brand losers included: Facebook, Fossil, Michael Kors, Pandora, Ralph Lauren, Steve Madden and Tory Burch.
  • 23 percent of teens prefer to shop specialty retailers today down 300 bps year-over-year, while pure-play e-com tied its spring 2017 peak at 17 percent – up 200 bps year-over-year.
  • Teens increasingly prefer Amazon as their favorite website at 49 percent share – up 9 percent year-over-year.

The full report can be found HERE.

Photo courtesy Adidas Neo