Reiting Lee, fashion strategy consultant and experienced brand specialist joins The 966 and host Richard Wilson for a fascinating Episode #131 to discuss how booming Saudi sports participation is impacting the fashion sector, particularly sportswear and athleisure.

Sports participation rates in Saudi Arabia are soaring with rates rising from 13% in 2015 to 48% in 2022.  Women’s participation in sports over that same period has increased 149%.  The number of official sports federations has tripled from 32 in 2015 to 97 in 2023, which includes everything from kite surfing to yoga and beach volleyball to paddle tennis.

Ms. Lee shares terrific insights on the trends, brands and sports that are driving changes in Saudi Arabia’s fashion sector.

Link: https://www.sustg.com/the-966-episode-131-how-growing-saudi-sports-participation-is-impacting-saudi-fashion-with-reiting-lee-founder-the-oriental-hybrid/

YouTube:https://youtu.be/EQzx-Rq-RHU?t=1

Podcast: https://share.transistor.fm/s/c8cb50bc

“The increasing participation of Saudi women in the workforce earning a salary will change the market dynamics. They need more modest work attire than before,” says Reiting Lee, founder of The Oriental Hybrid, a consultancy that connects Chinese and Arabic-speaking markets. “Saudi female consumers have more power now to shape trends, and they will convey women’s empowerment, baring modesty and culture in mind, through clothing in this new era.”

Products that reflect Saudi culture or national pride usually generate better sales by creating a stronger emotional bond with the consumers, Lee continues.

“For women, several Saudi 100 brands are modernizing the traditional menswear elements and reinterpreting them on womenswear, such as Abadia’s Harness Belt and Hala AlGharbawi’s dress using rope inspired by Agal. The date palm symbol and Saudi green are also very popular in the market and can often be observed at the Saudi Cup.”

Link: https://jingdaily.com/posts/saudi-arabia-ecommerce-fashion-opportunity

Social media trends, health awareness, overseas education, and government initiatives are the four main factors driving the sportswear trend in the kingdom, says Reiting Lee, founder of The Oriental Hybrid, a consulting agency that connects Arabic and Chinese-speaking markets.

“For Saudi women, as the community is very competitive, they always look into what the others are doing on social media, and there is an increasing amount of girls showing their gym life and cute gym #ootd (outfit of the day) to their close circle of friends on Snapchat, Instagram story, or personal TikTok,” says Lee.

Link: https://jingdaily.com/posts/saudi-arabia-sportswear-boom-sports-culture

“Saudi and Emirati consumers have the habit of matching personal fragrances to different clothing and occasions — which makes fragrance an essential product category in fashion lifestyle select shops and [gives them] high market demand,” says Reiting Lee, an intercultural communication consultant and founder of the consulting agency The Oriental Hybrid.

“Fragrance is such a prominent part of the Arab lifestyle, from home to weddings, a way to get to know a person and a way to identify a culture as well,” says Lee. “The first gifts I ever received from my Saudi and Emirati friends were oud, bakhoor, and perfumes, which truly shows how much they highly value fragrances.”

Link: https://jingdaily.com/posts/fragrance-opportunities-middle-east-oud

Beyond fast fashion, there’s also an appetite for Chinese designer brands thanks to the rise of Chinese pop culture, observes Reiting Lee, founder of The Oriental Hybrid, a consulting agency for Chinese and Arabic speaking audiences.

“The spread of Chinese language learning, C-drama, and Chinese celebrities such as Wang Yibo have evidently impacted Saudis and the Arab world in these few years, which can be observed in the age group of 19-25,” says Lee. “Many young Saudis also had the opportunities to study in China during their university years, and this has greatly affected their preference and interest in Chinese designers and Chinese fashion from a young age.”

Link: https://jingdaily.com/posts/saudi-fashion-consumers-china-luxury-vision2030