Like skinny jeans, side parts and ankle socks, leggings are the latest trend caught in the generational crosshairs between Millennials and Gen Z.
According to some members of the latter generation on TikTok, leggings – specifically the plain black, full length kind – are yesterday’s news, and a telltale sign of one’s age.
Vencii Studio founder Veda Rana, right, with friend Nancy Sun. Both wear pieces from the brand.Credit: Max Mason-Hubers
In July, trade publication The Business of Fashion declared “the reign of leggings is over”, writing, “Millennials helped crown leggings as the ultimate do-everything uniform, Gen Z is shifting the silhouette entirely, gravitating toward oversized, slouchier workout clothes”.
While globally, Google search data since 2016 shows the style’s popularity has declined, in Australia, that trend seems to be less acute.
Still, the face of workout wear and athleisure is evolving.
In October, 25-year-old HR executive Veda Rana from Sydney launched her brand Vencii Studio.
The label’s signature style – a halter-neck top and tiered skirt rendered in pastel spandex, with bike shorts underneath – is the polar opposite of the black-on-black uniform most gym goers prefer.
“Normal activewear is usually just leggings and crop tops and I wanted something that you could also go to brunch in … and it’s not completely looking like activewear,” says the Sydneysider, adding: “I just have a very different aesthetic, like a cute girlish aesthetic compared to your classic activewear.”
Rana says her target market is other women like herself, aged 18 to 25, active but still fashion-focused.
“I think Millennials were often just like your black leggings or even your three-quarter leggings with just like a loose t-shirt. So it’s just breaking out of that, being a little bit different,” she says.
A report from retail intelligence firm Edited, “The Death of Leggings?” found the proportion of leggings sold at activewear retailers in the US and UK declined from 46.9 per cent in 2022 to 38.7 per cent in 2025.
A quick glance at 22-year-old Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown’s brand Florence by Mills reveals velour track pants, mini skirts and cotton boxers – nary a lycra legging in sight.
Meanwhile, the recent collaboration between Nike and Kim Kardashian’s brand Skims included plenty of options for legging-haters, and even athleisure giant Lululemon has expanded its offering of baggier silhouettes after seeing shares drop almost 20 per cent in June.
Kimberley Owen, senior category buyer for sport at Australian retailer The Iconic, says, “the legging is definitely not dead”.
“They are still a wardrobe staple, particularly for high-performance workouts where the fabrication and fit of a traditional legging is much more suitable than the loose-fitting alternatives.”
But, she says pants – including sweatpants and tracksuit bottoms – are catching up with slimmer silhouettes.
“Where pants were once a third of leggings sales in the early 2020s, they now stand shoulder to shoulder with leggings in sales.”
Flared leggings and capri pants are also gaining ground, according to Owen, while “traditional” sportswear brands like Adidas and The Upside are releasing more “elevated” trouser options that can be worn to the office.
Yvonne Kostiak, head of active department at trend forecasting agency WGSN, says younger generations want different things from their activewear.
“Millennials were the first generation to truly embrace the wellness movement and invest their money in wellness products and services … with that, they adopted elements such as the legging, and integrated them into their lives,” she says.
“Gen Z want to define their own style and narrative within activewear and are rejecting the signature athleisure look that has come before them.”
Physiotherapist and pilates instructor Georgia Cranswick favours natural fibres over synthetic activewear. Here she wears a top from By Neil Vernon and wool trousers from Nagnata.Credit: Eddie Jim
Georgia Cranswick, a 30-year-old physiotherapist and instructor at Melbourne’s Good Times Pilates Studio, is a reformed legging devotee.
“I also used to work at Lululemon, so I’ve worn them a lot in my life,” she says.
“I think it just got to a point where I was like, ‘okay, this is really boring, and I have such a love for clothes and so much of my wardrobe that I don’t get to explore’.”
Cranswick’s outfits for teaching Pilates and working out, which she shares on TikTok, include cotton trousers, merino wool shorts from Australian brand Nagnata, off the shoulder tops and even belts.
“It’s made me be much more creative with what I wear for work, rather than just chucking on something that’s really easy.”
While synthetic materials like lycra and spandex commonly used in activewear are favoured for their durability, lightness and sweat wicking properties, Cranswick found they also tended to smell more and require more washing.
Cranswick says she now favours merino wool, which is odour resistant, moisture wicking and breathable.
Kostiak says more shoppers are definitely becoming interested in sustainable activewear.
“Consumers’ interest in their health and environment will drive a gradual shift away from petrochemical-derived fibres towards natural, bio-based, circular and regenerative materials.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
