A group of baffled sales executives struggles to understand why nobody wants
performance-enhancing shorts
"I feel incredibly frustrated", grouses John Stella, a marketing manager for
DuPont fabrics. And who could blame him? More than two years ago, DuPont had
what seemed like a golden sales opportunity: a scientific study revealing that
shorts made from highly elastic fabrics could reduce muscle fatigue and thus
improve athletic performance by up to 30 percent- enough, DuPont envisioned, to
get every fitness freak in the world clamoring for a pair. But alas, no. "You'd
think this would be an athlete's dream", says Stella. "Why doesn't everyone wear
them?"
A fair question, and therein lies a tale of marketing gone wrong. Legend has
it that the concept was born when an especially self-confident football player
squeezed himself into a woman's girdle for added muscle support and in the
process discovered that it helped prevent hamstring injuries.
Meanwhile, the running craze of the 1980's introduced spandex tights to the
public. Perhaps eyeing what has since become a $3 billion market for athletic
shorts, DuPont decided in 1990 to investigate whether such garments could also
improve performance. It turned to William Kraemer, at the time an exercise
physiologist at Pennsylvania State University. After five years of research,
Kraemer found that wearing shorts made with about double the Lycra in standard
biking shorts increased power by 12 percent among men, probably because the
garments reduced wiggling that can tire muscles. An even greater benefit, about
30 percent, was reaped by women. In 1996, DuPont licensed several specialty
manufacturers to make certified "Lycra Power" compression shorts, which now sell
for up to $50 a pair and are worn by professional football teams from the San
Francisco 49ers to the Washington Redskins.
Although the findings were trumpeted in the press, everywhere from the Los
Angeles Times to Runner's World, sales never caught on with the
public. Reason: Recreational athletes are apparently just as vain as the next
person, and they aren't just interested in jumping higher on the basketball
court if it means they must cram themselves into the fashion equivalent of
shrink-wrap. In a recent survey by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association,
buyers ranked comfort as their top priority; performance was rated seventh.
Another drawback is the price- a function of what DuPont charges for Lycra Power
fabric.
But despite the snags, the miracle fiber may soon get it's day. This summer
Reebok will use Lycra Power in the uniforms it's developing for some 2000
athletes in next years Olympics. If the fabric attracts enough attention, Reebok
will introduce a Spring 2001 line for consumers- a prospect that thrills Stella.
"It's an uphill battle", he says. "but word may finally be getting out."
-Erik Stokstad
Outside Magazine
July 1999
(reprinted with permission)