Now Nike Wants to Prove They Can Cater to Women Too

Hot on the heels of their competitor Under Armour, Nike is amping up their offerings for women’s workout gear as well, because that’s where the moneyyyyy is at.

On Wednesday, Nike released their Spring/Summer 2015 Women’s collection via a runway show featuring models like Karlie Kloss and Joan Smalls, as well as numerous athletes who rep for Nike, like runner Allyson Felix, boxer Marlen Esparza and former tennis player Li Na. They called it “the most comprehensive and innovative women’s collection Nike has ever created,” because as the New York Times notes, “women’s wear is Nike’s fastest-growing sector.”

To Nike, “fastest-growing” means means lots more revenue via a market that isn’t exactly untapped, but hasn’t been catered to like it could be:

“Sport and fitness are powering a new lifestyle shift for women around the world,” says Mark Parker, President & CEO of NIKE, Inc. “Our relationship with our digital community of 65 million women, coupled with great product innovation, is driving our momentum and we expect to add another $2 billion in revenue to reach $7 billion by FY17.”*

The press release goes on to mention Nike’s apps and how popular they are among women. Oh, we know.

It’s sort of comical all these brands are just now realizing that women need workout clothes, given how much women dominate sales in the rest of the fashion industry and how much women are told to work out to keep that bikini body tight. And that realization isn’t even limited to companies that started out making athletic gear for men: Urban Outfitters, Tory Burch – they’re all trying to introduce workout clothes for women.

Of course, everyone wants what they can’t have (or what they haven’t had yet).