Sleepwear Is Having Its Athleisure Moment

Business of Fashion

4 days ago

For Paige DeSorbo, bedtime knows no bounds.
Over seven seasons on the Bravo reality show 'Summer House,' she earned a reputation for spending leisurely mornings, afternoons and evenings in bed, chatting with friends, scrolling on her phone or recapping the previous night's debauchery with her housemates — most of that time in matching pyjama sets.
'My whole brand was not wanting to get out of bed,' she told The Business of Fashion.
So it's no surprise that DeSorbo's first major venture post-show (she announced her departure earlier this year), would be Daphne, a sleepwear label meant to offer styles 'more luxe than just like a traditional $20 pyjama set.' The idea, she said, is that they could be styled in the same way she wore pyjamas — over a swimsuit to the beach, or on a morning coffee run.
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'I wanted it to be something that if you're on vacation and you didn't want to change into another outfit, that this could also work for outside,' she said.
It's a formula more and more brands are taking to sleepwear, which is going through something of an athleisure-style reinvention. Brands like Lake, Eberjey, Sleepy Jones and Petite Plume have been selling an upscale take on pyjamas since the 2010s, but today's young shoppers are taking it a step farther, buying pyjama-inspired styles like boxer shorts and pointelle tank tops beyond their bedrooms into their everyday lives. Responding to this trend, more sleepwear brands are offering styles that straddle the line between function and fashion — comfortable enough for bed, but also cute enough to wear to brunch the next morning. Plus, more traditional ready-to-wear brands are investing in the space: Reformation launched its first pyjama line this spring, while Hill House Home, famous for its 'nap dresses,' rolled out a new line of nightgowns in June. Even the luxury hotel chain Four Seasons debuted its first pyjama collection late last year, with the intent of courting more Millennial consumers.
'Pyjamas aren't just for bed anymore. They're styled for the airport, the beach, brunch,' said Eberjey founder Mariela Rovito. 'PJs all day is no longer lazy, it's aspirational.'
This shift comes as pyjamas have also levelled up in terms of importance in a person's public wardrobe. As content creators broadcast their 'morning sheds' (undoing all the self-care steps they undertook the night before, from mouth tape to face masks), they're in their pyjamas. Social media stars like Brigette Pheloung and Alix Earle are often wearing them in their 'get ready with me' or 'day in the life' videos. Since 2024, the weekly average number of sleepwear-centric videos on TikTok has jumped 314 percent, while average views have leapt 817 percent, according to Trendalytics.
'The more that content creators are showing their lives and routines, the more people are going to want to mimic that, even if they don't realise it,' said Robyn DeMonte, who breaks down brand marketing strategies on TikTok under the moniker GirlBossTown.
These shifts represent a major opportunity for both sleepwear-first brands and apparel brands at large. For the former, it's a chance to behave more like a fashion brand, tapping the power of brand marketing and building a customer base that's loyal to their product. And for the latter, it's a relatively simple category expansion, because it's 'quite similar to what [you] already do,' said Reformation CEO Hali Borenstein.
Both see plenty of room for the space to grow. And just as brands like Lululemon and then later Alo and Vuori were able to build big businesses by convincing even the most casual gym-goers to embrace athleisure, and sleepwear brands believe there's similar potential in their category. After all, not everyone works out — but everybody sleeps.
'The market is still really ripe,' said Rovito. 'That's still a lot of people to convert from T-shirts and boxers.'
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From Bed to Boardroom to Beach
In some ways, sleepwear's rise is something of a pushback on hustle culture.
'Sleep has become the ultimate status symbol now,' said Fanny Quehe, CMO of sleepwear label Petite Plume. 'It's no longer something you want to sacrifice at the service of productivity.'
Instead, it's become something people are willing to invest in in order to improve. On TikTok, the viral concept of 'bed rotting' is seen as self-care, not a sign of laziness. In these highly-curated bedtime rituals, drab sleepwear stands out, and not for the right reasons.
'It's the ultimate self care, treat yourself moment, to have something that's so intimate and private be so extra,' said Hill House Home founder Nell Diamond, adding that in its latest nightgown drop, when the styles 'more detailed, more intricate, the better they sold.'
The general goal for most is, as Borenstein put it, to make something 'between comfy cozy pyjamas and hyper sexy lingerie.' Daphne, for example, was launched with simple products that could be worn both ways: a sleep top in a boxy cropped cut with bows on the side, a pointelle mini-dress that could easily be worn during the summer. Though some customers love cutesy prints, DeSorbo said she wanted to focus on more muted colours, 'very girly, yet still sophisticated.'
When Reformation launched its debut pyjama line this spring, it included classic button-down sets, but also patterned dresses and matching tank-and-short sets that would pair with sandals and sunglasses. At Eberjey, Rovito said they gut check its designs with what it calls the 'CVS test,' evaluating if their designs would function both inside the home and on an errand run or at school drop-off.
Creating multi-functional styles also helps these brands in positioning their pyjamas as a luxury worth splurging on. The thought is that 'maybe the price point is a little bit higher, but you're also getting a full out-of-the-house look and an in-home outfit,' said DeSorbo. Daphne's products run from $58 for a tank top to $85 for a mini dress and long boxer shorts.
As with athleisure, paying extra attention to fabrication also helps in that mission. Fabrics like silks can help up the luxury factor, while linen, which Eberjey introduced this year, can be more easily repurposed as summer daytime wear.
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'When we get a new fabric, it opens up a whole new door of possibility and style,' said Rovito.
Building Brand Equity
With more fashionable standards in pyjamas, the savviest brands in the category are elevating how they market themselves.
'It's about creating an aspirational brand behind a traditionally boring product,' said Rose Colcord, founder of London-based sleep and intimates label CouCou Intimates.
Part of this comes in how they photograph their product. For its e-commerce photos, Hill House shoots its nightgowns on models wearing shoes and without, in order to convey that they can be worn in the house and outside of it, Diamond said. For its brand imagery, Lake has models wearing pyjamas while they drive a boat or ride a bike.
Selling a dream, much in the way fashion brands do, has become a major tactic for distinguishing themselves from players like Victoria's Secret and J.Crew, which sell sleepwear but don't specialise in it, according to Cassandra Cannon, founder of Lake.
'Over the years, we have shied away from calling ourselves a fashion brand, but that is what we are,' she said. 'So that's one of the primary ways that we bring customers in … to connect them to the lifestyle that we're selling.'
But it's also about building up brand equity so people feel more willing to pay a premium for their product. Both Lake and Eberjey have moved away from advertising strategies primarily focused around social media ads towards larger brand-building efforts such as out-of-home ads and larger-scale campaigns. Eberjey, for instance, began running outdoor advertising after 25 years in business, because it's 'become a lot more important to just keep showing up where our customer is,' said Rovito.
Events and collaborations play a larger role, too, in introducing newness that encourages consumers to keep coming back. Earlier this summer Eberjey celebrated its collaboration with tequila company Casa Del Sol attended by influencers like Coco Schiffer and model Rocky Barnes, pairing pyjama tops with jeans or wearing nightgowns with sandals. Petite Plume hosted a pyjama party with Yse Beauty founder Molly Sims last December, where they dressed attendees in sleek silk sets and made a custom sequin-covered set for Sims.
For Lake, building up its retail footprint has also played a role in bringing people into its brand universe. It currently operates three stores, including a recently opened location in Southampton, New York, and one to come in Charlotte in August, all done in the same bright, airy whites and pastels it's known for with its pyjamas.
As these brands see it, the sleepwear opportunity is only just beginning. Rovito sees room in particular to expand with the men's pyjamas market. They also want to take the trust they've built and apply it to other categories. DeSorbo is open to launching daywear in the future; Lake is investing in its own everyday pieces including kaftans and sweaters. The lines, they all say, will continue to blur as shoppers continue to prioritise comfort above all else.
'Culture influences fashion, and fashion influences culture,' said DeSorbo. 'And people are tired.'