Emirates has quietly become a clothing brand. The airline has launched its 2026 EK FIT and EK TRAVEL collections, two ranges of activewear and loungewear sold through the Emirates Official Store, with entry-level prices starting at Dhs110 (about £23).
EK FIT is the workout side of the range. Women get leggings, sports vests and long-sleeved tops; men get T-shirts, half-zip tops and fitness shorts. Everything comes in a restrained palette of navy, olive and burgundy, and there are extras too: a gym bag, a cap and an insulated water bottle. The fabrics are lightweight and breathable, pitched at gym sessions rather than lifestyle wear.
EK TRAVEL is the one long-haul passengers will notice. It's a loungewear line in a soft modal-cotton blend, built around matching sets — a half-zip top with wide-leg trousers for women, a sweatshirt with straight-leg trousers for men, both in navy or olive. There's also an oversized unisex T-shirt in four colours, including almond and burgundy, aimed at both flights and everyday wear. Think of it as retail merch that's actually been designed for the 14-hour-seat experience.
The timing is deliberate. The launch lands ahead of the 10th edition of the Dubai Fitness Challenge, the city's annual month-long push to get residents exercising 30 minutes a day, and just before the winter holiday season, when Dubai's visitor numbers peak and long-haul travellers pass through DXB in force.
You can buy online via emirates.com, or in person at four Dubai locations: the Emirates Group Headquarters in Al Garhoud, the Emirates Group Technology Centre in Deira, the dnata Travel Centre on Sheikh Zayed Road and the Emirates World store at Town Centre Jumeirah. Emirates Skywards members can earn and redeem miles on purchases, which turns the ranges into a decent miles-burn option if you're sitting on a balance you'll never fly out.
Why care? Two reasons. If you're flying Emirates anyway, the travel sets are a reasonable answer to the eternal what-do-I-wear-on-a-night-flight question, and they're cheaper than most airline business-class amenity-adjacent merch. And if you're in Dubai for the Fitness Challenge or a winter trip, the retail locations are mostly in areas you'd pass through — Jumeirah and Sheikh Zayed Road especially — so picking something up is a five-minute detour rather than a pilgrimage.
It's also another sign of airlines behaving like lifestyle brands: uniform-adjacent colours, own-brand activewear, loyalty points on a water bottle. Whether that's charming or a bit much probably depends on how often you fly. Either way, at Dhs110 for the cheapest piece, it undercuts most airline-branded souvenirs by a wide margin.
