Why big brands lower quality

Dec 6, 20253 min read

The silent change in sportswear that no one talks about

Many athletes notice it, but few people can exactly explain why:

The sportswear you bought 5 years ago lasted longer.
Felt firmer.
Provided better support.

Today you often pay more — for less.
Why is that?

The answer is simple, but painfully honest:

Bigger brands grow by increasing the margin —
and almost always means cutting corners on quality.

How the industry once started — and where it went wrong

Sportswear originally came from functionality:

Better movement
Better performance
Less irritation
More support

But when sports fashion became popular, priorities changed:

Then	Now
Product-focused	Marketing-focused
Designed by athletes	Decided by shareholders
High-quality material	Cost-driven
Long wear	Frequent replacement
Performance	Hype

A new formula emerged in boardrooms:

➡ Higher selling price + lower purchase price = more profit
➡ More collections per year = faster replacement
➡ Less expensive materials = higher margin

The consumer pays not only in money —
but in comfort, durability, and performance.

Where exactly is the cutting back?

Savings	What you notice
Less dense fibers	See-through
Less compression	Sagging
Lower quality elastane	Faster wear
Simple stitching	Chafing / tearing
Fashion fit	No performance
Thicker prints	Less breathable

Many brands now invest more in campaigns than in clothing.
And although marketing can convince you to buy —
the product decides if you ever come back.

Why consumers feel this more and more often

People become more critical:
athletes see it, feel it, hear it from each other.

They see leggings getting thinner.
They see the fit becoming less precise.
They feel fabric getting warmer, sweatier, or rougher.

And yet many customers keep buying —
because the brand is well-known,
the logo feels familiar,
the name sounds big.

That is the power of marketing.
But also its pitfall.

What happens when a brand grows without compromise?

This is the rare, hardest path — and exactly what we chose.

At Next Extreme:

Every euro goes back into the product
No cheaper factory → better factory
No thinner fabric → higher density
No seasonal push → functional collections
No marketing over material → material over marketing

We call it:

Growth through quality — instead of growth at the expense of quality.

Many brands grow → therefore they get cheaper.

We grow → therefore we get better.

When the name is bigger than the product — you lose trust

With big-brand pricing comes big-brand responsibility.
When you pay €70 for leggings, you can expect them to:

✔ Is squatproof
✔ Does not wear out within weeks
✔ Does not slip down
✔ Does not cause chafing
✔ Is sustainable
✔ Supports your performance

Otherwise you don’t buy performancewear —
otherwise you buy marketing.

We believe it should be different

Performancewear must:

➡ Getting better as a brand grows
➡ Not lowered because people buy anyway
➡ Functional for real athletes
➡ Built for strength, movement and confidence

We have one priority:
The athlete.

Not the shareholder,
not the season,
not the hype.

Quality over margin is not a slogan — it’s a promise

We design, test and improve with:

Athletes
Gym fanatics
HYROX racers
Powerlifters
Beginners & comeback fighters

Not in boardrooms,
but on gym floors.

And you can see that reflected in:

Extreme Compression Fit™
Squatproof Shield™
NextGen Stretch™
GluteContour Design™
Seamless-Flow Stitching™

Each of these technologies exists
because products need to get better —
not cheaper.

FAQ

Why do companies lower quality as they grow?
To increase profit margin — not the product.

How do I know if sportswear is high quality?
Feel thickness, compression, stitching, and recovery after stretch.

Is expensive clothing automatically better?
No — price and quality are no longer synonymous.

Can a brand grow without lowering quality?
Yes — if every euro goes back into innovation.

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