Abstract
The sportswear industry has witnessed a transition phase in the past few decades. Indeed, the beginning of the 1970s saw the athletic sportswear evolve from specific product lines striving to target and migrate the small and unique markets into mainstream fashion products. The distinct difference between performance and fashion, function and style, formal and informal that once existed has become increasingly blurred. The way of performing in a sport has changed noticeably. It has been observed that playing a sport has turned from the old thought of offense to defence and vice versa to a relaxing activity. Thereby contributing to the all round development of mind and body. Paradoxically sport as an exclusive practice has entered into a different area tending to vanish from being in favor of a multiplicity of sports practices. This evolution has triggered an explosion in sports activities and their diversity makes understanding difficult in today's world. This has left the sportswear market in an arduous situation. Immaterial criteria now seem to have a predominant influence on consumer behavior. Changes in the way of life, the fashion phenomenon and sportspeople like Z. Zidane converting themselves into real "living gods", have elevated the sportswear brand names and brought them into the limelight. The sportswear industry is dominated by a few giants who launch fashion trends and invest aggressively in research and development as well as in advertising and promotion.
