Nike Is Still the Top Brand Among Teens, But Lululemon Is Gaining Ground

Good news for Nike — the brand is still cool.

That’s according to the 10,000 teens across 44 states who responded to Piper Sandler‘s 42nd semi-annual survey this fall. As per the results, Nike earned the top spots for footwear and apparel in the survey that ranked teen’s favorite brands. In apparel, Nike garnered 27% of the vote, followed by American Eagle at 7%, and PacSun, Adidas, and Lululemon all at 5%. Nike’s share of the vote was larger in footwear at 57%. Vans came next with 11% of the vote, followed by Adidas (9%), Converse (7%), and Foot Locker (2%).

Overall, clothing ranked as the the number one spending priority among teens at 22% for the first time since 2014, outranking food at 21%.

“Within apparel, athletic is still the dominant trend with Nike and Lululemon taking new highs,” said Piper Sandler senior research analyst Erinn Murphy in the report. “Within footwear, while Nike reigns supreme, Converse and Crocs gained share whereas Vans slipped.”

As more people take to running and exercise, athletic has become a dominant category in the footwear and apparel sector. While legacy brands like Nike and Adidas consistently hold most share, smaller challengers such as Lululemon and Gymshark are widening their reach.

Since Piper Sandler’s survey last fall, Lululemon gained 200 basis points and moved from the sixth to fifth top apparel brand. Lululemon also tied as the top brand for upper-income females and was voted the “top trend” for females.

In September, Nike reported revenues for Q1 of $12.2 billion, up 16% year over year. These results fell short of estimates of $12.46 billion in revenues from a survey of analysts.

Like other footwear brands, Nike has been significantly impacted by ongoing factory closures in Vietnam, the second largest supplier of footwear to the United States behind China. Nike had almost two months of no unit production in Vietnam when two of its footwear suppliers in Vietnam stopped manufacturing in July. Vietnam accounted for 51% of Nike’s footwear and 30% of apparel units last year.