Yoga Wear Startup Looks To Own Market With Need-Specific Apparel

Yoga wear is a $13 billion market, but developers of a new startup in India believe that sportswear is being passed off as yoga wear without actually being specialized toward the ancient practice.

Malika Baruahasserts, co-founder and product head of the yoga wear startup Proyog said the company is looking to change that.

“Yoga wear across the globe has been largely sportswear in disguise. None of the global brands have paid attention to the specific needs and requirements of yoga. Around 95 percent of the market comprises of polyester and nylon products that are antithetical to yoga.”

There are over 200 million people who practice yoga worldwide, and with the numerous health benefits, it is no secret why that number is so high.

That high number of practitioners means that the demand for yoga wear is high, which has had many manufacturers of sportswear jumping on the yoga wear bandwagon over the past few years.

Proyog is dedicated to more than just climbing aboard, however, as they have spent over two years doing extensive research with yoga teachers and textile engineers to truly get their yoga wear right.

All that research has led to the development of fabrics and 12 different kinds of yoga wear, according to a statement from Proyog. The yoga wear will feature designs from ancient India that have been recreated to fit the modern age.

The result? What the company is saying to be the world’s very first brand of yoga wear that is actually designed and specialized for the practice of yoga.

Baruhasserts believes that once a yogi tries Proyog’s yoga wear, they won’t want to go back.

“Proyog, on the other hand, has stayed true to yoga wherein every product is designed to enhance the practice. It is very unlikely that a yoga practitioner will go back to anything else after having tried Proyog.”

Proyog was prompted to develop a superior brand of yoga wear by more than just the growing demand and multi-billion dollar industry.

They see themselves as the leaders of the “Make in India” campaign launched by Prime Minister Narenda Modi by showing that India has the ability to develop and produce best-in-class products in an industry as big as yoga wear.

Proyog is set to launch globally June 21, which the United Nations has declared the first International Yoga Day.

Proyog’s yoga wear would be available in India on most e-commerce websites, and the company has partnered with foreign retailers to make the yoga wear available worldwide.

[Photo By Joe Raedle/Getty Images]