India’s sportswear market crossed ₹824 billion in 2025, growing 11% in a year, according to Euromonitor.
The category is forecast to reach ₹1,307.6 billion by 2030. Into this expanding market comes US athleisure brand Fabletics, which has entered India through an exclusive partnership with Reliance Retail.
The deal gives Fabletics access to Reliance’s large physical and digital retail network while adding another international activewear label to an increasingly competitive Indian market.
Fabletics Makes India Entry
Reliance Retail announced the exclusive Fabletics partnership, describing the company as an American women’s athleisure brand. The partnership sits within Reliance Retail’s Premium Brands business and forms part of its wider effort to bring international labels into India.
Reliance’s FY2025-26 annual report subsequently listed Fabletics among the strategic brand partnerships secured during the year, alongside Stella McCartney, Kurt Geiger and Max & Co.
Fabletics was founded in 2013 and has built its business around activewear positioned between performance and fashion. The company’s international website currently reports 2.4 million VIP members and says its global footprint stood at more than 100 brick-and-mortar stores as of 2024.
According to Apparel Resources, the brand’s first Indian store is planned at DLF Promenade in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, followed by a Mumbai location. Those specific store locations have not been independently confirmed in the primary Reliance disclosures reviewed for this article.
India’s Sportswear Market Grows
The India entry comes as sportswear moves beyond being confined to traditional sporting activities. Euromonitor’s January 2026 India report recorded an 11% increase in sportswear sales in 2025, taking the market to ₹824.1 billion. It forecasts the category to grow at a 10% compound annual rate through 2030, reaching ₹1,307.6 billion.
Euromonitor attributes the expansion to factors including demand for comfort and versatility, greater fitness awareness and the continued adoption of athleisure. It also expects omnichannel retail to remain important as consumers move between digital discovery and physical shopping.
The opportunity is therefore not limited to performance clothing. Sportswear increasingly competes with conventional apparel for everyday use, making the category relevant to both specialist sports brands and broader fashion retailers.
Competition Is Already Strong
Fabletics will enter a market where international sportswear companies already have established positions. Euromonitor describes India’s sportswear market as moderately concentrated, with Puma holding a 6% share in 2025, followed by Adidas at 5% and Skechers at 4%.
At the same time, domestic brands are creating pressure from another direction. Euromonitor identifies BlissClub as a notable D2C challenger, particularly in women’s activewear, with a proposition centred on comfort, functionality and products designed for Indian consumers. The report also says value-fashion brands are intensifying competition.
This leaves Fabletics competing across several price and positioning points rather than simply against global sportswear giants. Its challenge will be to establish a clear proposition for Indian consumers while navigating a market that already offers both international labels and locally focused alternatives.
Reliance Offers Retail Scale
For Fabletics, the Reliance partnership provides access to an established retail infrastructure. As of Q1 FY2026-27, Reliance Retail had 20,169 stores, 396 million registered customers and 1.93 billion customer transactions. The company’s retail business also operates across physical stores, digital platforms and new-commerce channels.
The scale of that network matters because building an Indian retail footprint independently would require substantial time and investment. Reliance’s existing infrastructure allows the partnership to combine physical retail with digital distribution from the outset.
Reliance’s latest results also show continued momentum in the retail business. During the July 2026 earnings discussion, management said retail topline growth was close to 12% year-on-year in Q1 FY2027.
Global Brands Target India
Fabletics’ arrival also fits a wider shift in India’s premium activewear market. Euromonitor’s latest India report notes that international brands are preparing strategic entries, including lululemon’s planned 2026 launch through a partnership with Tata CLiQ.
For Reliance, Fabletics adds another international name to its Premium Brands portfolio. For Fabletics, the partnership provides a route into a sportswear market that grew to ₹824.1 billion in 2025 and is forecast to expand substantially by 2030.
The next test will be execution: how the brand prices and positions its products, how quickly it builds physical presence and whether its international activewear proposition can translate into sustained demand in India’s increasingly crowded sportswear market.
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