12 Indian Athleisure & Activewear Brands Growing Fast in 2026
India's athleisure market is valued at USD 13.16 billion in 2024 and growing at 5.5% CAGR.
India’s relationship with fitness wear has changed permanently. What was once limited to gym bags and track pants on weekday mornings is now everyday fashion, worn to offices, cafés, airports, and grocery runs. That shift has created one of the fastest-growing apparel markets in the world.
India’s athleisure market size reached USD 13,156.1 million in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 21,250.2 million by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 5.5% during 2025–2033. The India Sports Apparel Market was valued at USD 680.2 million in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 2,154 million by 2032, growing at a robust CAGR of 15.5%. Also, India’s activewear market specifically reached USD 15.11 billion in 2024, projected to reach USD 29.97 billion by 2030 at a 12.2% CAGR, nearly double the global average growth rate.
What Is Driving the Growth?
In 2024, over 110 million Indians actively participated in fitness, gym workouts, running, and sports activities, boosting demand for sportswear, activewear, and athleisure clothing. The surge in sports events such as the IPL, ISL, and marathons further accelerated branded merchandise sales.
Urbanisation concentrates populations in metros and Tier-2 cities where gym membership, fitness culture, and lifestyle integration develop rapidly. Demographic shifts amplify this expansion: 48% of men aged 26–40 claim gym usage as a primary behaviour; women represent the fastest-growing activewear segment with the highest engagement rates.
The India athleisure market is experiencing a notable shift towards sustainability, with brands increasingly adopting eco-friendly materials. Technological integration is enhancing consumer experience, particularly through smart fabrics and wearable technology.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports received a record allocation of INR 3,794 crore for FY 2025–26, with INR 1,000 crore designated specifically for the Khelo India Programme, which has established 1,045 Khelo India Centres for grassroots training and approved 326 new sports infrastructure projects.
Why Indian Brands Are Winning Now
According to McKinsey, between 2019 and 2024, globally challenger brands grew more quickly than established companies through sharper positioning and innovation. During this time, the two biggest players Nike and Adidas lost 3% of their market share. A similar shift is happening in India.
Indian startups penetrate value-conscious segments by prioritising functional performance and climate adaptation — something global brands built for Western weather cannot easily replicate. Indian consumers demand climate-responsive performance: humidity management across monsoon seasons, thermal regulation in extreme heat, and durability against diverse environmental conditions.
Top 12 Indian Athleisure & Activewear Brands in 2025–26
HRX by Hrithik Roshan
Founded: 2013 | Headquartered: Mumbai
HRX was co-founded in 2013 by actor Hrithik Roshan and Afsar Zaidi, Founder of Exceed Entertainment. The name stands for Hrithik Roshan’s initials with ‘X’ representing the brand’s stated philosophy of limitless potential.
HRX operates primarily through Myntra (80–85% of revenue), Cult.fit integration (10–12%), and offline retail (5–8%). The brand sells over 2 million products annually across apparel, footwear, and accessories.
The brand generates ₹200–220 crore in annual revenue, has grown at 15–20% CAGR since 2013, and has crossed ₹1,000 crore in cumulative GMV.
In July 2025, HRX launched a new campaign featuring actress Triptii Dimri as co-ambassador alongside Hrithik Roshan. The brand has announced plans to open 10 offline stores initially, with a long-term target of 150 stores.
BlissClub
Founded: 2020 | Headquartered: Bengaluru
BlissClub, founded in 2019 by Minu Margeret, is a brand specialising in women’s activewear. The brand focuses on creating comfortable and functional gym and yoga wear tailored for women, with a mission to empower women through high-quality activewear that supports active lifestyles.
The brand has raised a total of $21.6 million in funding across 7 rounds, with its most recent raise of ₹33 crore in May 2025 led by Elevation Capital. Investors include Eight Roads Ventures and QED Innovation. Revenue stood at ₹92.16 crore in FY24. The brand operates 16+ physical stores across India and sells through its own website, Myntra, Amazon, and Ajio.
In December 2024, BlissClub launched FreeDame, a range of innerwear — its first product category outside activewear.
Athflex
Founded: 2019 | Headquartered: Ahmedabad
Behind Athflex is founder Andrew Leo, who started the company at just 20, after dropping out of college and working multiple jobs and freelance gigs to fund and build the brand from the ground up.
The brand builds premium gym and activewear made specifically for Indian bodies, designed for both workouts and everyday wear.
It operates a community model called the “Flex Tribe”, an active community of athletes and fitness enthusiasts who shape both the product direction and the brand narrative. It works directly with athletes to shape product design and validate new releases before launch.
The brand has remained bootstrapped since founding and reported close to ₹10 crore in revenue for FY25, with approximately 100% year-on-year growth.
Fuaark
Founded: 2017 | Headquartered: Surat, Gujarat
Fuaark was founded by Rimpy Juneja, Swati Juneja, and Saket Juneja, a family trio from Surat. Rimpy is a Delhi University alumnus, Swati is a Chartered Secretary, and Saket brings product design experience from Tommy Hilfiger.
With an initial investment of just ₹4 lakh, the founders identified a gap between affordable but generic brands like Decathlon and expensive international labels like Nike and built Fuaark to bridge it.
The brand appeared on Shark Tank India Season 2 and has since scaled rapidly. Annual revenue of Fuaark is ₹42.5 crore as of March 31, 2025, and the brand operates on a monthly revenue run rate of ₹6 crore. The brand generates 42 – 45% of revenue through its own website and 55 – 58% through marketplaces including Myntra, Ajio, Flipkart, and Amazon.
Fuaark remains bootstrapped and profitable since day one. In March 2025, Fuaark opened its first offline store in Bengaluru and expanded into multi-brand outlets including Broadway, Pune. It has served 1 million+ customers to date.
Alcis Sports
Founded: 2015 | Headquartered: Noida
Alcis Sports is a Series A company based in Noida, founded in 2015 by Rahul Singh and Ravish Nanda. It operates as a brand offering sportswear, gym clothing, and related accessories, providing a variety of apparel for men, women, and kids including tops, bottoms, and outerwear for activities such as running, training, yoga, and outdoor pursuits.
Known for its high-functionality designs, Alcis bridges the gap between sportswear and streetwear. Their pieces are tech-driven, made with dry-fit and anti-odour fabric technologies, catering to athletes and regular gym-goers alike.
Annual revenue of Alcis Sports is ₹19.2 crore as of March 31, 2024. Alcis Sports has raised $5.22 million across 2 funding rounds from RB Investments, with its first Seed round of $4.79 million raised in March 2017, and a Series A of $430K in June 2019.
Cava Athleisure
Founded: 2022 | Headquartered: Bengaluru
Cava was founded by sisters Ria Mittal and Shreya Mittal, who identified a gap in India’s athleisure market for premium, functional, and stylish workout wear suited to everyday use. Drawing on their family’s 30+ years of garment manufacturing experience, they positioned Cava as a brand blending comfort, performance, and contemporary design.
As Ria Mittal explains: “Globally, we look up to brands like Lululemon and Alo Yoga. In India, however, their offerings often miss the sweet spot of cultural relevance, affordability, and sizing. Our goal was to bridge this gap, globally inspired clothing, adapted for Indian climates, routines, and consumers.”
In January 2025, Cava launched ADPT™, its proprietary fabric blend developed through in-house R&D described as super-stretchy, never sweaty, and butter-smooth. In January 2026, Cava raised ₹40 crore in a Series A round led by Sharrp Ventures (Marico founder Harsh Mariwala’s family office), with participation from V3 Ventures and Spring Marketing Capital, at a valuation of ₹215 crore. The brand also became one of India’s first athleisure labels to sell through Zepto’s 10-minute delivery platform.
Aesthetic Nation
Founded: 2017 | Headquartered: Mumbai
Aesthetic Nation was co-founded by Aniket Pednekar and Nikhil Suvarna with a clear positioning: “As Gymshark is to the world, Aesthetic Nation is to India.” The brand designs international-grade athleisure with an Indian cultural identity, featuring utility apparel inspired by Indian festivals and culture in its clothing range.
Aesthetic Nation is built around community, a network of fitness enthusiasts with similar goals, promoted through grand-level fitness influencers across India. The brand has shipped over 1 lakh+ lifetime orders and ranks 14th among 84 active competitors in India’s activewear segment.
What sets it apart is its blend of fast fashion aesthetics with functional utility, making it particularly popular among Gen Z fitness content creators and gym culture enthusiasts on Instagram and YouTube.
Technosport
Founded: 2015 | Headquartered: Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu
TechnoSport is India’s most quietly powerful activewear success story built not in a Bengaluru startup hub but in Tiruppur, the textile capital of India. Starting as a performance-fabric-first brand, it has grown through a combination of proprietary fabric technology and aggressive multi-channel expansion.
TechnoSport crossed ₹300 crore revenue in FY24 and is eyeing high double-digit growth of 30–40% over the next few years. The brand raised USD 25 million in its first external fundraising from A91 Partners.
In September 2025, TechnoSport announced an INR 200 crore investment to open 300 exclusive brand outlets across India over the next two years, following 40% CAGR since 2022. The company is targeting INR 600 crore in revenues for FY26 and aiming for INR 1,000 crore by FY27.
The brand’s collaboration with Pro Kabaddi League franchise Dabang Delhi K.C. makes it the Official Kit Partner and Powered By sponsor for Season 12 of the PKL, with kits engineered with UPF50+ sun protection, moisture-wicking materials, anti-bacterial finishes, and four-way stretch.
Cultsport
Founded: 2019 | Parent: Cult.fit | Headquartered: Bengaluru
Cultsport is the fashion apparel division of Cult.fit, India’s fastest-growing fitness platform. It provides affordable, on-trend workout wear designed specifically for Indian consumers and is deeply integrated with the Cult.fit ecosystem.
Cultsport has an inherent distribution advantage that no standalone activewear brand can replicate: Cult.fit’s 500+ fitness centres across India serve as built-in retail touchpoints and experiential showrooms. Every Cult.fit member who sweats in a class is a potential Cultsport customer.
Cult.fit, an emerging domestic player, is leveraging its strong fitness community to promote its own line of activewear through digital platforms and fitness centres. The brand focuses on affordable performance wear and collaborations with Indian athletes to strengthen its market presence.
Aastey
Founded: 2021 | Headquartered: Mumbai
Aastey is India’s first size-inclusive and sustainable athleisure brand for women, founded in 2021 by Jeevika Tyagi and Kanupriya Mundhra, offering athleisure, activewear, and everyday essentials. The Mumbai-based startup was born out of a desire to break long-standing biases and stereotypes in women’s fashion, particularly around size, fitness, and beauty standards.
The brand offers apparel up to 4XL — addressing a market segment that mainstream activewear brands have historically ignored.
Aastey has built a thriving community of 200,000 women. Aastey has also attracted early investor venture funding.
Zymrat
Founded: 2019 | Headquartered: Bengaluru
Zymrat was founded on February 15, 2018, in Bengaluru by Ujjawal Asthana and Ankita Riva. The brand operated on a D2C-only model from inception, selling exclusively through its own website. The activewear brand recorded a 70% repeat customer rate over 12 months on its own website, backed by a community of 500+ coaches and 30+ studios across India.
Zymrat raised $250K in December 2020 from Dominor Investment Holding LLP, LetsVenture Angel Fund, and angel investors. In January 2022, the brand raised $500K in a seed round led by Dominor Investment Holding LLP, with participation from Anicut Angel Fund and angel investors. Total funding across 3 rounds stands at $834K.
In September 2023, Zymrat was acquired by Styched, a Singapore-based D2C fashion and lifestyle platform in a cash and equity swap deal valued at approximately $362,000. The deal was structured as an acqui-hire, with the core Zymrat team and leadership transitioning to Styched. At the time of acquisition, Zymrat was operating at an ARR of approximately $1 million (₹8.3–8.6 crore). Zymrat continues to operate as an independent consumer brand under its original name, with Styched managing back-end operations.
SRT10 Athleisure (Sachin Tendulkar’s Brand)
Founded: 2024 | Headquartered: Mumbai
Cricket legend and Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar unveiled TEN x YOU, a sportswear and athleisure brand, on October 10, 2025, created from his insights and firsthand experiences as an elite athlete.
In 2024, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar ventured into entrepreneurship by co-founding SRT10 Athleisure Pvt. Ltd.
Unlike most celebrity brand collaborations where a star lends their face to someone else’s product, SRT10 was built with Tendulkar’s active involvement in the product brief — drawing from his 24-year career as India’s most celebrated cricketer. The brand targets performance-driven athleisure, bridging the gap between what professional athletes need and what everyday fitness enthusiasts want.
The launch comes at a time when India’s cricket culture and fitness culture are converging — a market moment that no other celebrity brand is better positioned to capture than Tendulkar’s.
Trends Shaping India’s Activewear Market in 2026
D2C is the dominant model. Digital transformation accelerates athleisure adoption through e-commerce accessibility, eliminating geographic barriers previously limiting regional penetration. D2C models enable brands to control customer experience, gather performance feedback, and iterate designs rapidly.
Women are the fastest-growing segment. Women was the largest revenue-generating end-use segment in 2025, representing 56.8% of market share, and also the fastest-growing segment during the forecast period.
Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are the next frontier. E-commerce platforms such as Myntra, Amazon, Ajio, and Decathlon reported over 35% YoY growth in online sports apparel demand in 2024. Brands that reach beyond metro cities through digital channels will capture the next wave of growth.
Proprietary fabric tech is the moat. Brands like TechnoSport (CotFlex, TechnoGuard), Alcis (dry-fit, anti-odour), and CAVA (ADPT moisture-wicking blend) are differentiating not through design alone but through functional innovation — a more defensible position than aesthetics.
Celebrity and athlete-led brands are proliferating. HRX, SRT10 Athleisure, and Virat Kohli’s Wrogn prove that Indian consumers trust athletic and Bollywood credibility in their fitness brands — but only when the product actually delivers.
Offline is the next growth chapter. Many Indian brands are now moving offline. HRX targets 150 stores, Campus Activewear has over 250 EBOs, TechnoSport is opening 300 outlets, and Boldfit plans 100+ stores.
India’s homegrown activewear and athleisure market is no longer a niche segment fighting for shelf space next to Nike and Adidas. It is a ₹1.5 lakh crore opportunity unfolding over the next decade.