How Sportswear and Activewear Became High Fashion

Needless to say, activewear and sportswear are no longer restricted to the playing of sport and exercising. Instead, they have become an important part of our everyday wardrobes. If you are looking to expand your wardrobe but you are on a budget, we would recommend you take a look at these StockX coupon codes.

Sportswear has become not only the norm, but also a high fashion choice for a lot of people. However, what many people don’t know is that it is a long and circuitous tale that includes social change, random cultural moments, and urban adaptation.

From the tennis court, to the runway, to the street

Jane Régny and Suzanne Lenglen were two early French sportswear designers who were also prominent tennis players. They designed activewear for women in the early 20th Century. Tennis wear is often associated with aristocrats and country clubs. It has also been consistently referenced in preppy wear, collegiate apparel and resort wear. Many institutions, like country clubs, have helped many activewear brands reach cult status. For instance, despite its athletic roots, Fred Perry has become a street fashion brand.

Tracksuits became leisure suits

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that sportswear is America’s contribution to fashion. Most people do not know that during the 1920s, sportswear was a term used to describe the casual and comfortable clothes women wore while watching spectator sports. The evolution of stretch fabrics helped in the creation of nylon athletic shorts, windbreakers, zip-up and anoraks. Manufacturers started to make colour-coordinated cotton and nylon tracksuit jerseys in the iconic reds, blues, and greys now associated with classic sportswear.

The classic stretchy tracksuit was brought into mainstream fashion with the help of Bruce Lee. All of a sudden it was cool to wear athletic tracksuits in polyester, terrycloth, and cotton. Track suits were being used for activities that were not even athletic.

Perennial sneaker style

For playing tennis, Adidas designed Stan Smith tennis shoes in the 1970s. The shoes were even named after an American tennis player. In recent years, these sneakers were taken up by many members of the fashion community. These sneakers have reached coveted cult shoe status after they were rereleased in 2014 with high fashion fanfare.

Let’s look at another iconic Adidas shoe known as Superstars. These gained a lot of attention in the fashion community when hip hop groups everywhere started wearing black and white Adidas Superstars. They started a move towards urban fashion when they wore the same clothes and shoes on stage that they wore on the streets. They helped hip hop fashion reach a new level of influence that remains strong even in today’s world.

Yoga pants escape the studio

It might sound a little surprising at first but there when you think about how comfortable yoga pants are you will understand why yogis didn’t want to take them off.

Despite being very comfortable, the yoga pants never made their way to the street traditionally. However, in recent years, yoga pants stopped being freaky and got fashionable when the unitard was completely eliminated and yoga pants were available for everyone.


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