Give it a New Purpose.
It’s been a few years since the pandemic came to a cruising halt, and a lot of people in the fashion space are stuck with the “athleisure” that they wore day to day. Living rooms turned into makeshift yoga spaces, doors were outfitted with Amazon pull-up bars, and a load of Gen-Z are stuck with resizable dumbbells, collecting dust in the corner of their rooms.
As fashion has taken a turn to baggier, more forgiving silhouettes, athleisure brands have opted to offer lifestyle attire with an out of gym application. These brands grew in popularity outside of the iron clad walls of purebred lifting gyms, offering men a trend where fitness attire can be applied in the real world.
It’s no secret that in the womenswear space, fitness gear has reigned supreme for casual occasions. Brands like Alo and Lululemon have created full two piece fitness sets which, when styled correctly, can look quite chic on the streets of major cities. The same can be said for brands like Gymshark and YoungLA, who have more of a traditional bodybuilding background versus the lifestyle approach from the aforementioned labels.
On the men’s side, brands seem to be split. On one end, they’re creating explicitly lifestyle marketed collections which can be applied in both spaces. On the other, traditional menswear has been elevated to suit the ideology of all. Think of the comfy days where you sat around in your team’s tracksuit after a match, or your form fitting gym wear. Brands want you feeling that level of comfort, while still looking smart.
Percival and Maniere de Voir have shifted to lightweight suit materials found more in moisture-wicking, performance gear. S.P.S.R Studio out of Germany has found success in creating wider trimmed pants with streetwear graphics, offering sweat pant levels of comfort while still appearing in a suit. It all stems from fitness attire, and on a deeper level, to the team wear that most kids found suitable when they were growing up. And as we do so, our fashion sense changes, but our insatiable desire to stay comfortable has remained the same.
PAUSE has looked deeper into the trend, giving you four tips on how you can begin implementing the fitness attire that you currently own, or are looking to buy, into your daily fashion rotation.
Integrate Athleisure Into Your Basics.
Uniqlo has a chokehold on the t-shirt game at the minute for a multitude of reasons. Cheap pricing, boxy fits, perfectly cut sleeves, and what their Airism material offers is sweat-wicking and breathability. These pieces have almost completely replaced the graphic heavy designs which were so desirable in the 2010s hypebeast era of fashion. Take a step back, and look to buy baggy, athletic material t-shirts instead of your classic cotton, as they’ll be longer lasting and will fit the way they intended to for longer. After all, they were developed to be sweated in, and put through their paces in the gym.
Perform in Your Suiting.
While it’s difficult to ascertain whether or not traditional suiting is on its way out, it’s simple to affirm that performance-based suiting is in. While there will always be people searching for the thickest cotton twill suits and vintage pieces from the likes of Boss and Armani, there’s a space opening up for brands who offer performance materials on their suits. A lot of the time, these suits don’t fit properly, and look quite rough around the edges. But on the instances where they’re done well, they provide a classic suit look, which can be worn in any occasion, dressed up or down depending on the weather.
Turn Athleisure into Statements.
Athleisure have turned to brands like Corteiz and Trapstar for graphic inspiration, and their mix of high quality fitness materials trump those ready to wear garments. Fitness apparel can be quite easily transcended into statements when styled correctly. For example, rock a pair of heavily pocketed cargo pants with the Uniqlo t-shirt above, or, turn to a brand like YoungLA for high GSM tops with slight but impactful graphics.
Go Slim to Stand Out.
The baggy pants trend is still on the forefront of most menswear, but traditional brands have moved back into slimmer, tighter fitting tailoring. A small t-shirt, baggy pants outfit will always hit if the colours are coordinated properly. So step out of your comfort zone, and give a slim t-shirt a try.
