Underwear Market

Gildan Activewear completed its purchase of Hanesbrands on 1 December 2025, “doubling our scale”, its closing release states, after agreeing an enterprise value of about USD 4.4 billion and combined pro forma net sales of USD 6.88 billion in its announcement of 13 August 2025; the deal put Hanes, Bali and Maidenform under one basics maker. The underwear market covers bras, women’s briefs and panties, men’s underwear, children’s underwear, shapewear and thermal base layers sold to consumers worldwide. Douglas Insights sizes it at USD 152.1 billion in 2025, about 26.0 billion pieces at an average USD 5.85 each, and at USD 226.0 billion in 2035, a 4.04% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). The study sits in our consumer goods and retail coverage, beside the Plus Size Women’s Clothing Market, Smart Textiles Market and Footwear Market reports; every figure follows the Douglas Insights research methodology.

Which underwear category earns the most: bras, briefs, men’s underwear or shapewear?

Bras earn the most, 30.0% of 2025 underwear revenue or about USD 45.6 billion, Douglas Insights estimates. Shapewear grows fastest, 6.2% a year to USD 22.2 billion by 2035.

Bras lead on value although briefs lead on pieces: a bra sells for 4 to 8 times the price of a brief, a Douglas Insights estimate, because it needs cups, wires or bonded fabrics, hooks and many sizes. Marks & Spencer, the largest UK lingerie seller, said it sold 1.8 million GBP 10 bras in the year to 28 March 2026, its results of 20 May 2026 state. Bra revenue grows 4.0% a year to USD 67.5 billion.

Women’s briefs, USD 36.5 billion, grow 3.8% and men’s underwear, USD 33.5 billion, grows 3.7%, both led by multipacks. Children’s underwear, USD 13.7 billion, grows slowest at 3.4% as birth rates fall in China, Europe and East Asia. Shapewear, USD 12.2 billion, grows fastest because brands such as Skims and Maidenform sell it as everyday wear; Gildan calls Maidenform the US number one shapewear brand in its 13 August 2025 release. Thermal and base layers, USD 10.6 billion, grow 4.6% as heat-retaining and cooling fabrics move from sports shops into everyday basics ranges sold by Uniqlo, Decathlon and supermarket brands. Category values for 2035 sum to USD 226.7 billion, 0.32% above the headline.

Where is underwear bought: brand stores, online, mass merchants or department stores?

Specialty and brand stores sell the most underwear, 34.0% of 2025 revenue or about USD 51.7 billion, Douglas Insights estimates. Online grows fastest, 6.6% a year, and becomes the largest channel at USD 86.5 billion by 2035.

Brand stores lead because bra fitting still pulls shoppers into shops run by Victoria’s Secret, Aerie, Uniqlo, Aimer and Jockey. American Eagle’s Aerie and OFFLINE revenue grew 25% to USD 535.8 million in the quarter to 1 August 2026, with comparable sales up 19%, its filing of 9 September 2026 shows. Store revenue grows 3.4% a year to USD 72.2 billion.

Online, USD 45.6 billion, grows fastest as repeat buyers order known sizes and as direct brands scale. Underwear suits online selling better than most clothing because returns are low once a shopper knows her size, and subscription multipacks lock in repeat orders; Douglas Insights estimates online return rates for underwear at under half those for dresses. Mass merchants and supermarkets, USD 36.5 billion, grow 2.6% on multipacks. Department stores, USD 18.3 billion, grow only 1.0% as malls lose traffic; Hanesbrands’ US sales fell 4.5% to USD 647.5 million in the quarter to 27 September 2025, its last standalone results show. Channel values for 2035 sum to USD 226.1 billion, 0.03% above the headline.

What drives underwear demand: rising incomes in India, direct brands or comfort fabrics?

Underwear revenue rises 4.04% a year in our base case: piece volume grows 2.4% a year, from 26.0 billion to about 33.0 billion, and price rises 1.6%. Four drivers add 3.30 points of volume; restraints remove 0.90.

Rising incomes in India, Southeast Asia and Africa: 1.20 points

Emerging-market buyers are the largest driver, worth 1.20 points. Page Industries, which makes and sells Jockey in India, sold 61.2 million pieces in the quarter to June 2026, up 5.7%, and revenue rose 7.9% to INR 14.2 billion, its release of 13 August 2026 shows; full-year revenue to March 2026 rose 6.3% to INR 52.5 billion, its 21 May 2026 release states. Douglas Insights estimates a person in India buys about 1.7 pieces of underwear a year against about 9 in North America, so a small rise in per-person buying adds hundreds of millions of pieces.

Direct brands and online buying: 0.80 points

Direct-to-consumer brands add 0.80 points. Skims raised USD 225 million at a USD 5 billion valuation and was expected to exceed USD 1 billion of net sales in 2025, its lead investor Goldman Sachs Asset Management said on 12 November 2025. Victoria’s Secret grew second-quarter 2026 net sales 10.4% to USD 1.61 billion, with comparable sales up 9%, and raised its fiscal 2026 guidance to USD 7.10 billion to USD 7.18 billion, its filing of 3 September 2026 shows.

Comfort, wire-free and shapewear styles: 0.70 points

Comfort styles add 0.70 points because wire-free bras, seamless briefs and everyday shapewear are replaced more often than structured lingerie. Aerie’s comparable sales rose 19% in the quarter to 1 August 2026, the American Eagle filing shows, while Victoria’s Secret’s full fiscal 2025 net sales rose 5% to USD 6.55 billion, its results of 5 March 2026 show. Douglas Insights estimates wire-free bras now take about 45% of bra units sold in North America.

Thermal and performance fabrics: 0.60 points

Performance fabrics add the last 0.60 points. Fast Retailing, owner of Uniqlo and its HEATTECH and AIRism innerwear lines, grew revenue 16.6% to JPY 3.96 trillion in the year to 31 August 2026, with Uniqlo International up 26.2% to JPY 2.41 trillion, its results of 8 October 2026 show. Douglas Insights estimates base layers and innerwear make up about one-tenth of Uniqlo revenue. Summed, 1.20 + 0.80 + 0.70 + 0.60 = 3.30 points, a Douglas Insights estimate.

What holds underwear growth back: mature-market decline, tariffs or falling birth rates?

Two restraints remove 0.90 points a year from underwear volume growth: mature-market and department store decline takes 0.50 points and trade and sourcing costs take 0.40 points.

Mature markets are the heavier drag because Europe, Japan and US mass channels are close to saturation. Marks & Spencer’s Fashion, Home and Beauty sales fell 7.7% to GBP 3.92 billion in the year to 28 March 2026, its 20 May 2026 results show. Wacoal Holdings, Japan’s largest lingerie maker, saw revenue fall 1.4% to JPY 171.5 billion in the year to March 2026, though it forecasts a 9.4% rise to JPY 187.6 billion, its results of 14 May 2026 show. In China, Cosmo Lady’s 2025 revenue fell 1.9% to RMB 2.95 billion, its annual results of 27 March 2026 show.

Trade and sourcing costs take 0.40 points. Most underwear is sewn in Bangladesh, Vietnam, China, India and Central America, and duty changes move shelf prices quickly. Bangladesh’s ready-made garment exports rose 8.84% to USD 39.35 billion in the year to June 2025, with knitwear up 9.73%, Export Promotion Bureau data cited by the state news agency BSS on 12 July 2025 show. Falling birth rates also cut children’s demand, a Douglas Insights estimate.

Which region buys the most underwear, and where does demand grow fastest?

Asia Pacific buys the most underwear, USD 60.8 billion or 40.0% of 2025 revenue, led by China, Japan and India. The Middle East and Africa grow fastest, 5.6% a year to USD 10.5 billion by 2035.

Asia Pacific leads on population and on fast-growing brands. Aimer, a Beijing lingerie group, booked 2025 revenue of RMB 3.09 billion, down 2.21%, at a gross margin of 66.03%, its annual report summary of April 2026 shows, while Page Industries’ Indian volumes rose 10.8% to 54.5 million pieces in the quarter to March 2026, its 21 May 2026 release states. Regional revenue grows 4.7% a year to USD 96.3 billion.

North America, USD 38.0 billion, grows 3.4% on direct brands and premium bras. Europe, USD 36.5 billion, grows 3.0%, the slowest, as department stores shrink. Latin America, USD 10.6 billion, grows 4.6% on Brazil and Mexico. The Middle East and Africa, USD 6.08 billion, grow 5.6% on young populations and new malls in the Gulf. Regional values sum to USD 158.2 billion in 2026 and USD 225.7 billion in 2035, 0.14% below the headline.

Which companies lead underwear sales?

No company holds more than about 5% of underwear revenue, Douglas Insights estimates; the five largest, Fast Retailing, Victoria’s Secret, Gildan with Hanesbrands, PVH and Wacoal, hold about 15% together.

Gildan’s third-quarter 2026 net sales rose 61.1% to USD 1.47 billion, and its retail channel, mostly Hanes, reached USD 731.9 million against USD 122.1 million a year earlier, its results of 5 November 2026 show. The same filing says Gildan closed the sale of HanesBrands Australia, owner of Bonds, on 26 October 2026 at an enterprise value of about AUD 700 million. PVH’s Calvin Klein revenue fell 6.8% to USD 913.3 million in the quarter to 2 August 2026, its filing of 2 September 2026 shows.

Specialists are pulling ahead of mass basics. Victoria’s Secret’s 9% comparable sales growth and Aerie’s 19% compare with a 1.0% fall in Hanesbrands’ last standalone quarter to USD 891.7 million, its results of 6 November 2025 show. Private brands such as Triumph, Jockey International, Calzedonia’s Intimissimi and Tezenis, and Skims, plus thousands of local makers and store brands, share the remaining 85% of revenue, a Douglas Insights estimate.

How much does a piece of underwear cost, from a multipack brief to a premium bra?

A piece of underwear costs an average USD 5.85 in 2025, Douglas Insights estimates, from about USD 1 for a brief in a mass multipack to USD 80 or more for a premium or designer bra.

The average hides a wide price ladder. Douglas Insights puts multipack briefs and boxers at USD 1 to USD 4 a piece, branded single briefs at USD 8 to USD 25, mass-market bras at USD 8 to USD 25, specialty bras at USD 35 to USD 80, shapewear at USD 20 to USD 90 and thermal tops at USD 10 to USD 40. About 62% of pieces sell below USD 4 but earn about 25% of revenue, a Douglas Insights estimate.

Average price rises 1.6% a year in the base case, to about USD 6.86 in 2035, as cotton costs rise and the mix moves toward bras, shapewear and branded online sales. The US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service forecasts the upland cotton farm price at 77 cents a pound for 2026/27, against 62.2 cents for 2025/26, and world mill use at 123.1 million bales, up 1.9%, its Cotton and Wool Outlook of 14 October 2026 shows. Cotton is about 10% to 15% of the cost of a cotton brief, so a 24% rise in fibre price adds roughly 3% to the factory price, a Douglas Insights estimate.

Tariffs add a further layer. The US Supreme Court ruled on 20 February 2026 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorise tariffs, which removed one layer of duties on garments from Asia; normal tariff schedules still apply. Douglas Insights treats the remaining tariff effect as adding about 0.2 points a year to the price leg through 2028.

What if direct brands scale faster or mature markets shrink: how large is the underwear market in 2035?

The underwear market ends 2035 between USD 196.9 billion and USD 256.5 billion across our three cases, around a base of USD 226.0 billion. Emerging-market buying and price mix set most of the spread.

In the slower case Chinese and European buying keeps shrinking and Indian growth slows to 3%, taking 1.0 point off volume and 0.4 points off price. In the faster case per-person buying in India and Southeast Asia rises by half by 2035 and online premium brands keep growing at 2026 rates, adding 1.0 point of volume and 0.3 points of price. One extra point of yearly revenue growth adds about USD 22.7 billion to 2035 revenue, a Douglas Insights estimate.

Live signals sit near the base case. Victoria’s Secret raised its guidance, Aerie grew 25% and Fast Retailing grew 16.6%, all pointing up. Marks & Spencer’s 7.7% fall, Wacoal’s 1.4% fall and Cosmo Lady’s 1.9% fall point down. Our 4.04% rate weighs strong brand and emerging-market growth against flat mature markets.

Which rules shape underwear makers, from EU textile EPR to PFAS bans?

Three rule sets shape underwear makers: EU textile waste rules under the revised Waste Framework Directive, chemical bans such as New York’s PFAS in apparel law, and US tariff law after the IEEPA ruling.

The waste layer matters most in Europe. The revised Waste Framework Directive entered into force on 16 October 2025 and gives member states 30 months to set up extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles, the European Commission announced that day; the Commission says the EU generated about 12.6 million tonnes of textile waste in 2019, with only about one-fifth collected separately. Brands will pay fees per item placed on the market, which Douglas Insights estimates at EUR 0.01 to EUR 0.05 for a brief.

The chemical layer is led by US states. New York bans the sale of new apparel with intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from 1 January 2025, with outdoor apparel for severe wet conditions following from 1 January 2028, the state Department of Environmental Conservation states. Period underwear and stain-resistant finishes are the most exposed. The trade layer still applies normal US duty rates after the 20 February 2026 ruling; Douglas Insights estimates duties add 10% to 20% to the landed cost of a typical imported bra or brief.

Douglas Exclusive: the Drawer Refill Index

The Drawer Refill Index is a Douglas Insights model built from 12 inputs: 10 company and investor releases and 2 official statistics, listed below. It estimates how many underwear pieces each person buys a year, by region.

The finding, a Douglas Insights estimate: global buying averages about 3.2 pieces per person a year in 2025, from about 9 in North America and 7 in Western Europe to about 2.5 in China and 1.7 in India. By 2035 the global figure reaches about 3.7, with India rising to about 2.6 and North America flat. India and Southeast Asia supply about 40% of the extra 7 billion pieces sold a year by 2035.

The index changes how to read the market. Value growth in North America and Europe now comes mostly from price and mix, while volume growth comes from Asia and Africa. Douglas Insights therefore models price per piece separately for the two groups and weights per-person buying in India and Southeast Asia most heavily in the volume forecast.

How does the methodology turn 26.0 billion pieces into USD 152.1 billion?

Our methodology multiplies about 26.0 billion underwear pieces sold in 2025 by an average USD 5.85 each to reach USD 152.1 billion, then grows pieces 2.4% and price 1.6% a year.

The model covers 6 categories, 4 channels and 5 regions, using 58 data points, 24 sourced and 34 modelled. Pieces come from adult and child population multiplied by pieces bought per person by region; prices come from company filings, retail price checks and Douglas Insights price ladders. Arithmetic: 26.0 billion x USD 5.85 = USD 152.1 billion; USD 152.1 billion x (1.024 x 1.016)^10 = USD 226.0 billion. Pieces reach about 33.0 billion in 2035.

Two cross-checks agree. First, the nine companies in our table earn about USD 23 billion from underwear, about 15% of the total, consistent with a fragmented market. Second, Page Industries’ volume run-rate of about 240 million pieces a year matches about 16% of our estimate for branded Indian underwear. Currency conversions use Douglas Insights assumptions of JPY 150, INR 88, RMB 7.1 and AUD 1.52 per dollar. AI tools help draft the text and automated checks test the arithmetic and links; the Douglas Insights research desk chooses the sources, builds the model and approves publication, as our editorial standards explain.

Sources

1. Gildan Activewear Gildan completes the acquisition of HanesBrands (2025)
2. Gildan Activewear via SEC EDGAR Gildan to acquire HanesBrands (2025)
3. Marks and Spencer Group Preliminary results 2025/26 (2026)
4. American Eagle Outfitters via SEC EDGAR American Eagle Outfitters second quarter fiscal 2026 results (2026)
5. Hanesbrands via SEC EDGAR Hanesbrands third quarter 2025 results (2025)
6. Page Industries Q1 FY27 results press release (2026)
7. Page Industries Q4 and FY26 results press release (2026)
8. Goldman Sachs Asset Management SKIMS raises USD 225 million (2025)
9. Victoria's Secret and Co. via SEC EDGAR Victoria's Secret second quarter 2026 results (2026)
10. Victoria's Secret and Co. via SEC EDGAR Victoria's Secret fourth quarter and fiscal 2025 results (2026)
11. Fast Retailing Fiscal 2026 consolidated results (2026)
12. Wacoal Holdings via JPX Consolidated results for the year to March 2026 (2026)
13. Cosmo Lady via HKEX 2025 annual results announcement (2026)
14. Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha Bangladesh export earnings FY2024-25 (EPB data) (2025)
15. Aimer Co. 2025 annual report summary (2026)
16. Gildan Activewear via SEC EDGAR Gildan third quarter 2026 results (2026)
17. PVH via SEC EDGAR PVH second quarter 2026 results (2026)
18. USDA Economic Research Service Cotton and Wool Outlook, October 2026 (2026)
19. Supreme Court of the United States Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump opinion (2026)
20. European Commission Revised Waste Framework Directive enters into force (2025)
21. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation PFAS in apparel law (2025)

What counts in the underwear study, and what is excluded?

The underwear study counts bras, briefs, boxers, children’s underwear, shapewear and thermal base layers sold at retail worldwide. Sleepwear, loungewear, swimwear, hosiery, socks and medical compression garments are excluded.

The study splits revenue by 6 categories, 4 channels and 5 regions: Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Extended sizes appear in our Plus Size Women’s Clothing Market report, sensor-laden garments in the Smart Textiles Market report and store formats in the Retail and Wholesale Market report.