Athletic Wear and High-End Fashion… 

The Lines are Blurring Before Our Very Eyes
By Steve Henricksen

Remember back in the 80s when it was all the rage for yuppies to throw on a pair of sneakers with their business suits and walk a few times around the nearest park during lunch hour? Sure, the trend was ugly as sin, but it did plant the seeds of an idea that has been blossoming into a very chic, very popular fashion statement: the union of workout clothing and fabrics with higher-end runway styles. Designer collaborations are a way for athletic companies to enhance their identities and lure more fashion-conscious customers to their brands. For lesser-known designers, too, attaching their names to instantly recognizable global brands boosts sales and can make the difference between obscurity and a coveted slot during Fashion Week. And bottom line, this credibility with a wider and often more affluent audience translates into significant dollars, making the big companies even bigger.

 
Stella McCartney for Adidas



Puma first worked with French designer Xuly Bet in 1994 on a collection of gowns made from soccer jerseys; the company later began making shoes for Jil Sander runway shows. Adidas unveiled a new collection of workout gear done by Stella McCartney, and snowboarding company Burton released a jacket (available at Saks Fifth Avenue) created in partnership with Paul Smith, the British designer famous for his brightly striped men’s shirts. Reebok worked with Diane Von Furstenberg to design clothes that tennis star Venus Williams wore for Wimbledon ’03 and also with Chanel to create a version of its famous Pump sneaker for the runway.
Now, companies from Adidas to Reebok International Ltd. are partnering with high-end designers to prove to customers that their brands can be as stylish as they are comfortable and functional, and designers are happily accepting the financial backing of these giants.

Designer Junya Watanabe stands out as one of the main troubadours of this hybrid, featuring on the feet of his Spring/Summer 2007 collection the fruits of his collaboration with the Nike company, an array of exact replicas of its shoes from the past thirty years. The instantly recognizable logos of athletic-wear brands Converse and Champion were also incorporated into the line, most notably when a traditional Champion sweatshirt emerged revamped into a biker jacket. Tracksuits came down the runway looking as tailored and ready for the office as any business suit, and the classic Levi’s jacket was retooled in synthetic fabrics usually reserved for workout wear.


Junya Watanabe’s ‘06 collection


Yohji Yamamoto seems to have found his perfect partner in Adidas as well. For the upcoming season, this marriage ~ named the Y – 3 line ~ has resulted in some interesting-but-somehow-it-works pairings of stylish jackets with track pants, traditionally cut blazers with sweatshirt-style zippers instead of buttons, and Spandexy unitards worn under skirts and tops. Sporty-looking and definitely giving a nod to gyms and athletes both, these are unmistakably clothes that can and should be worn in the “real” world.

Some fashions, like the track suits offered by Juicy Couture, have made their way effortlessly into mainstream fashion simply by being associated with certain celebrities. Jennifer Lopez is practically the…face…of Juicy Couture sweatsuits, an unofficial but potent endorsement that has done wonders for the Juicy’s sales. Supermodel Christy Turlington has lent her name (and apparently some design input) to a Puma line of workout wear, “Nuala,” that can go from the yoga mat to the corner coffee shop without missing a beat. These clothing lines and others like them seamlessly make the transition between the gym and elegant establishments from Beverly Hills to Monaco.

Designer Neil Barrett, formerly a major player at both Gucci and Prada, collaborates with Puma on a collection called 96 HOURS ~ the website sums up the creative (although not the financial) inspiration of many of these collaborations: “Innovative, urban and versatile, 96 Hours accommodates the on-the-go lifestyle of today’s style-conscious. The collection is sophisticated, contemporary and founded on authentic sport. Sport lives within our daily life, solutions for active challenges in 96 Hours.”

So will the lines between athletic wear and designer fashion continue to blur even further with each new season’s designs? Will couture dresses someday have the ability to morph ~ Transformer-like ~ into jogging suits? Will fashion correspondents be talking about collections from Gucci and Fila in the same breath? There’s no way to tell how far this trend will go ~ but for now, athletic garb and high fashion are certainly enjoying each other’s company.