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Sportswear is entering a quiet power shift. In my experience, this is not just about which company is biggest today. It is about which brands are building credibility, community, supply chain strength, and cultural relevance for the next decades.
In January 2026, Anta Sports agreed to buy a 29.06% stake in Puma from the Pinault family’s investment vehicle, Artemis. It was a huge move in the branded sportswear industry, and one that says a great deal about where the sector is heading.
Since Björn Gulden left Puma for its competitor “across the river”, Adidas, Puma has been under real pressure. I know many ex-colleagues and friends who were retrenched. The Anta investment provides a much-needed bolster in share price and confidence for the future of the brand.
I read an article suggesting that Puma could potentially find its way back to the “top three”, alongside Nike and Adidas.
I think those days are over.
Why am I always paying attention to sportswear, and particularly now?
I have worked in fashion and sportswear for my entire career, starting initially at Puma. Prior to that, I was always an active hobby athlete.
At least a quarter of my life has been spent wearing sportswear, probably more.
Working at Puma, making the products, working with designers, the board, the technology, and the athletes, was really interesting and a great privilege.
Being part of newness, innovation, and major sporting moments such as the Olympics, the World Cup, and Formula 1 was fascinating, inspiring, and very fulfilling. I never take these experiences for granted. I was at the heartbeat of what was happening inside the brands.
Up until the 2010s, the big sportswear brands were Nike, Adidas, and Puma. The two heritage German brands and the challenger from the United States, which became the industry leader and seemed impenetrable.
Over the years, not only have the brands changed.
The consumer has changed too.
Lululemon, founded in 1998 by Chip Wilson in Vancouver, Canada, focused on the largely untapped female consumer, speaking directly to her and her yoga lifestyle. Lululemon clothing was so much more than sportswear.
As casual dressing became more prevalent, yoga clothing became everyday attire.
The huge success of Lululemon was rapidly replicated by almost every department store, big-box retailer, and many niche brands.
The sportswear and athleisure category was on fire.
The athleisure market is now worth hundreds of billions of dollars and is forecasted to exceed USD 900 billion by 2033.
It is huge.
The huge impact of social media created and popularised other brands, with Gymshark being the standout success.
Founded in 2012 in Solihull, UK, by Ben Francis and Lewis Morgan, Gymshark showed that the game had changed again.
Social media allowed many start-ups to gain popularity and sales through Facebook and Instagram.
Yet dominance still remained largely in the Western world, primarily the US, UK, and Europe.
I have seen a lot of movement in the industry over the years.
When I initially started at Puma, we produced a lot of product in Europe, mainly in Turkey. The movement to Asian sourcing was a huge benefit to the brand from a margin perspective.
Spending time in supply chains across countries and continents, the change in the industry at source has been very noticeable.
These are the kinds of fashion supply chain insights that reveal where the real power of the industry is moving.
The Anta investment in Puma is not really a surprise to many of us who have watched the industry closely, especially in China.
China is a huge market in itself. All the big brands were there: Nike, Adidas, Puma, and Lululemon.
Not Gymshark. They came too late to benefit from the 2000s and 2010s passive, Western brand-loving Chinese consumer.
China has had its own sportswear giants.
The most famous brand of that time was Li-Ning, founded by the Olympic gymnast of the same name. Li-Ning had huge aspirations to be the next Nike and hired a number of senior creatives from Western brands.
It did not fully work in the way many expected, and for a time, many people seemed to forget about the brand.
Li-Ning was also surrounded by controversy and was ultimately banned from selling in the US due to human rights allegations.
Anta is the quiet giant.
It has been building its business, brand portfolio, athletes, and credibility for many years.
Anta Sports is now widely discussed as one of the world’s largest sportswear companies. The Business of Fashion has described Anta as the world’s third-largest sportswear company, behind Nike and Adidas.
Founded in 1991 in Jinjiang, Fujian, China, Anta originally made sneakers. It gained significant awareness during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Over the years, Anta’s influence has expanded through both domestic growth and strategic investments. It is the largest shareholder of Amer Sports, whose brands include Arc’teryx, Salomon, Wilson, Peak Performance, and Atomic. Anta also has direct interests in brands including Fila, Descente, Kolon Sport, Jack Wolfskin, and Maia Active.
The 29.06% Puma stake is another major signal.
It shifts the centre of influence in sportswear away from a purely Western-led model.
As in politics, power, and finance, we are seeing a multipolar world emerge. One shaped by regional depth, cultural confidence, and execution discipline.
This is not East versus West.
It is about how credibility is built.
Anta quietly built its brand credibility through long-term investment, patient brand-building, and strategic acquisition. It avoided much of the politics and controversy that affected Li-Ning.
Depth before expansion.
Supported by the China Guochao movement and support for local brands.
Athlete partnerships as cultural alignment, not marketing noise.
A different expression of Chinese sportswear strength.
Athletes as cultural anchors, not just endorsements.
The brand quietly grew while many people were not watching.
The Anta case indicates the rise of a multipolar sportswear world. One where community, local relevance, and respect for culture are becoming important points of difference.
This is one of the most important fashion industry insights for sportswear brands today.
From the inside, this is what I am seeing in the industry now.
I am always looking, buying, and testing brands and products.
For the past four years, I have been involved with SQUATWOLF, building their supply chain and acting as a strategic advisor.
Founded in 2016 by the amazing entrepreneurs Wajdan Gul and Anam Khaled in Dubai, the brand differentiates itself by not being a global incumbent like Nike or Adidas.
Rather, it is from the region, for the region.
Built with community and relevance, without legacy advantage.
What I experience with this team and its suppliers is a window into how next-generation sportswear brands are being built differently.
SQUATWOLF is a generational and geographically defining brand.
No excuses.
Always challenging the existing conversations of “how it is”.
Deeply inspiring, and creating a culture of “hunt for more”.
We started with Anta’s investment in Puma, a major move in the industry.
SQUATWOLF may seem unrelated, but it is not.
The rise of a brand from the Middle East, and the emergence of a Dubai-native activewear brand, are part of the same larger story.
This is not an easy thing to do.
It is a courageous and inspiring one.
It changes the global sports brand power base, just as Anta does.
The next era of sportswear will be shaped by brands that understand:
Sportswear is entering its own structural reordering moment.
The question is no longer only which brands are biggest today.
The question is which companies are building for the next decades.
Sportswear is no longer defined only by the old hierarchy of Nike, Adidas, and Puma. The category is being reshaped by new centres of influence, new consumers, and new definitions of credibility.
Anta’s investment in Puma is not just a financial move. It reflects a wider shift in global sportswear power, where Chinese companies are increasingly shaping the brands and categories they once primarily supplied.
SQUATWOLF shows another version of the same change: a regionally rooted brand building credibility from community, relevance, and long-term conviction rather than legacy advantage.
The brands that matter most in the next era will be those building for depth before visibility, function before hype, and cultural relevance before global sameness.
Anta’s agreed acquisition of a 29.06% stake in Puma is important because it signals a wider shift in sportswear influence. Chinese companies are moving from manufacturing and domestic growth into global brand ownership, investment, and category leadership.
Yes. Anta is widely discussed as one of the world’s largest sportswear companies, and The Business of Fashion has described it as the third-largest sportswear company behind Nike and Adidas.
Athleisure has become important because the way people dress has changed. Sportswear is no longer limited to exercise. It has become everyday clothing, driven by comfort, lifestyle, wellness, social media, and the rise of brands such as Lululemon and Gymshark.
Next-generation sportswear brands are often built around community, cultural relevance, performance, and direct relationships with consumers. They do not always rely on heritage or global legacy. Instead, they build credibility through focus, authenticity, and long-term thinking.
If your brand is navigating growth, category shifts, or a changing sportswear landscape, join Sovereign Scale™, Kate’s free webinar for fashion and sportswear founders ready to move from reactive operations to strategic growth.
In this free webinar, Kate shares how founders can begin building clearer structure, stronger decision-making, and a more resilient operating model for the next stage of growth.
Kate Padget-Koh is the founder of Fashionable Futures and a fashion industry consultant with more than 30 years of experience across sourcing, sustainability, product development, supply chain strategy, and brand transformation.
