With the constant evolution of social media, sportswear brands increasingly seek to collaborate with influencers to reach a wider audience and boost visibility.
In this article, we'll explore the 10 sportswear brands most mentioned by influencers in 2025, based on data collected by Kolsquare.
This study is based on Kolsquare’s global influencer database. For this article, we covered 431,555 profiles with more than 5,000 followers who mentioned one of 600 sports brands. The analysis period is from May 2024 to April 2025 across Instagram.
We focused on four key metrics when measuring each brand:
Put together, this data tells us which brands are most popular. It also gives an indication of why.
For example, a brand that activates many KOLs likely offers incentives, while a brand with fewer KOLs yet strong EMV likely targets celebrity and mega influencers.
All of this data, along with additional information on gym brands, sporting events and health supplements, is shared in the Kolsquare UK Sport Brand Report.
According to the Kolsquare ranking, the sportswear brands that dominate on Instagram are:
EMV: £59.6M
Content volume: 34.4K
KOLs: 3K
ER: 5.1%
English sportswear brand Gymshark is relatively young. But it has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent years. Its vast influencer collaborations have helped the company's gross profit grow nearly tenfold between 2017 and 2024, according to Statista data.
Gymshark's secret? Affiliate marketing. This tactic allows the brand to activate vast numbers of fitness influencers at lower risk using a commission framework.
Curious about affiliate marketing? This blog post explores in-depth how to combine affiliate and influence campaigns.
EMV: £28.6M
Content volume: 2.2K
KOLs: 613
ER: 11.5%
If you put adidas accounts together, it's the winner. Separating them, Adidas Football comes in just behind Gymshark. Adidas Football maintains its privileged position in the world of sportswear, known for its mix of fashion and performance.
Adidas Football benefits from its regular partnerships with top athletes and creators to create collections that capture the attention of its audience. High-profile footballers with engaging content, such as those from the Champions League, likely account for the high EMV, despite fewer KOLs being activated.
EMV: £27.7M
Content volume: 15.2K
KOLs: 4.3K
ER: 4.5%
Just behind Nike last year, Adidas maintains a high position in the world of sportswear. The German brand is known for its timeless style. On its main account, Adidas regularly partners with celebrities and influencers to create collections that capture the attention of their respective audiences.
EMV: £26.5M
Content volume: 14.2K
KOLs: 4.5K
ER: 4.6%
Nike is an iconic brand that has always remained innovative. With its hard-hitting campaigns and collaborations with world-renowned athletes, Nike continues to dominate the sportswear industry. It's currently the sportswear brand making the highest global sales, according to Statista data.
This year, it's up two points, driving strong EMV. Many of its collaborations come from professional sportspeople, such as Sarah Bern (@sarahbern3, 63k followers, Instagram).
EMV: £22.6M
Content volume: 16.1K
KOLs: 1.7K
ER: 4.6%
The women’s branch of Gymshark continues to attract the attention of influencers thanks to its community-driven campaigns and creator collaborations that champion empowerment, inclusivity and performance.
This year, Gymshark Women has dropped two points on the ranking, despite Gymshark's main account staying at the top. Again, Gymshark Women's content stems from fitness influencers, rather than celebrity stars.
EMV: £19.4M
Content volume: 11.0K
KOLs: 2.7K
ER: 3.6%
Known for its streetwear-inspired and retro collections, Adidas Originals remains a must-have label among fashion-forward influencers. Its collaborations with artists, musicians and creators have helped it maintain cultural relevance and presence in online conversations.
EMV: £16.1M
Content volume: 10.9K
KOLs: 3.3K
ER: 4.0%
Generating significant buzz, New Balance continues to attract influencers to post content. The American brand has been able to adapt to current trends while retaining its distinct identity. Despite the high number of KOLs activated, New Balance came in seventh due to a lower engagement rate.
EMV: £12.3M
Content volume: 711
KOLs: 179
ER: 10.3%
Puma, another world-renowned brand, continues to make its mark in the world of sportswear. Thanks to its collaborations with influencers and professional sportpeople, Puma manages to reach a wide audience and maintain its popularity. While the content volume is lower, the high engagement pushes up EMV.
EMV: £12.2M
Content volume: 9.7K
KOLs: 1.2K
ER: 3.6%
Lululemon creates high-end sportswear that's designed for yoga, running and the gym. The Canadian brand primarily targets women. Many of the KOLs tagging the brand are fitness influencers sharing their workout routines and successes.
EMV: £11.7M
Content volume: 859
KOLs: 158
ER: 5.2%
Champion makes a comeback into the top 10, reviving its legacy through nostalgic campaigns and collaborations with lifestyle creators. The heritage brand’s vintage aesthetic continues to resonate with new audiences online. Rather than football collabs, Champion prioritises boxing.
Share of voice can be defined as a brand’s share or presence on a channel relative to its competitors. It determines how well-known and visible a brand is. While share of voice doesn’t refer to the percentage of sales or market share, it does indicate the percentage of discussion.
Share of voice of sportswear brands in terms of EMV on Instagram:
Gymshark is the clear winner according to our influencer marketing metrics for Instagram. Affiliate marketing allows Gymshark to activate many social media influencers to create cohesive content at a low cost.
These brands were part of last year’s ranking but have since been overtaken by rising sports-focused and women-led segments from Gymshark and Adidas.
Kolsquare is Europe’s leading Influencer Marketing platform, offering a data-driven solution that empowers brands to scale their KOL (Key Opinion Leader) marketing strategies through authentic partnerships with top creators.
Kolsquare’s advanced technology helps marketing professionals seamlessly identify the best content creators by filtering their content and audience, while also enabling them to build, manage, and optimize campaigns from start to finish. This includes measuring results and benchmarking performance against competitors.
With a thriving global community of influencer marketing experts, Kolsquare serves hundreds of customers—including Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sony Music, Publicis, Sézane, Sephora, Lush, and Hermès—by leveraging the latest Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning technologies. Our platform taps into an extensive network of KOLs with more than 5,000 followers across 180 countries on Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat.
As a Certified B Corporation, Kolsquare leads the way in promoting Responsible Influence, championing transparency, ethical practices, and meaningful collaborations that inspire positive change.
Since October 2024, Kolsquare has become part of the Team.Blue group, one of the largest private tech companies in Europe, and a leading digital enabler for businesses and entrepreneurs across Europe. Team.Blue brings together over 60 successful brands in web hosting, domains, e-commerce, online compliance, lead generation, application solutions, and social media.
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