Hosiery also referred to as legwear, describes the garments, worn directly on the feet and legs. The term hosiery is also being used for the type of knitted fabric, its weight and thickness. It is manufactured in a wide range of fabric weights, knits and colors. In general, heavier weight fabrics are stronger and more durable, but are thicker and show less of the natural skin tone. On the other hand, lighter garments look and feel more luxurious but are not strong as compared to the heavier ones. The hosiery includes categories such as sheers, support hosiery, control tops, opaques, tights, stay-ups, stockings, maternity pantyhose and run-resistant garments.
The growth of the global hosiery market is driven by the robust demand for comfortable and stylish hosiery among the consumers. Changing lifestyles and demographic factors are bringing changes in demand patterns for hosiery. Further, the global demand for hosiery is increasing due to the increasing employment rate across various countries in the world. Further, rising disposable income is expected to intensify the growth of the global hosiery market. Moreover, rapid urbanization is anticipated to positively impact the growth of the hosiery market.
Rising personal disposable income along with changing lifestyle is anticipated to expand the growth of global hosiery market during the forecast period. Apart from this, propagation of modern retail formats such as supermarkets, discount stores, and pharmacy stores is resulting in increasing product visibility. This enables easier accessibility to clothing products such as hosiery to consumers. The increasing sales from online commerce sector is fuelling the growth of global hosiery market as it saves the time of buyers and offer various discounts on the products. Thus, the online store is expected to be the fastest growing segment which is anticipated to expand the growth of global hosiery market over the forecast period.
The global hosiery market is expected to witness a steady growth attributed to considerable demand in the healthcare and fitness industry. Consumption of hosiery products is expected to remain high among women in terms of demography. Socks is predicted to witness significant demand in the global market as compared to other products.