Asos, which sells workout clothes from the in-house line saw its activewear sales double in the four months through June 30 versus the same time last year. It also saw strong growth in sales of casual clothing and sneakers, helping its total sales to rise 10 per cent over the period despite the pandemic. Sales of evening dresses, formalwear, and day dresses all sank.

In May, US retail chain Kohl’s similarly called out activewear as one of its highlights for the quarter, with sales doubling. Smaller labels such as SETactive and Ten Thousand have reported healthy sales too.

In the US, where the great majority of consumer purchases still happen in stores, widespread store closures have dragged down activewear sales overall. Even powerhouse companies such as Nike and Lululemon have seen their total sales fall as a result of having to shutter many of their physical shops.

But online sales of activewear are proving resilient. In the UK, for example, the amount of activewear appearing online has grown 17 per cent since the start of May compared to the same period last year, according to Edited, a retail technology firm that tracks fashion e-commerce. It found sellouts of new products had risen too. In the US, online new arrivals of activewear did drop 15 per cent as per Edited’s data, but sellouts of new styles jumped more than 100 per cent.