No longer under the tyranny of compression fit leggings, today’s athleisure is something looser, with a wink of nostalgia
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thleisure is not to be confused with serious fitness wear. No one is running a marathon or playing a game of football in the shoes pictured above. Notice how, in a made-up noun that is a compound of athletics and leisure, the first has been shrunk to three letters. The only personal best that concerns you here is having an optimal Saturday morning.
Athleisure is fashion, not kit, so it moves with the times just as much as it moves with you. And it looks very different now than a few years ago, when every outfit was anchored by snazzy leggings. Tight legging sets with dazzling graphics were the parade uniform of the imperial age of Lycra. Under the cheerful tyranny of compression fit, starburst-pattern leggings with matching sports bras ruled the roost. These were outfits designed to be watched in a mirror with a rousing soundtrack: perky and sculpting, lingerie-like in their obsession with matching two-piece sets and with bottoms.
These clothes are still functional in class or on the treadmill, but they are no longer a style flex at the coffee shop. That version of athleisure now looks dated. In its place something looser has emerged, with a wink of nostalgia in place of the earnest modernity of graphic-print leggings. Today’s athleisure is more about the bracing, outdoorsy world of organised sport. Think rugby tops, roomy tracksuit bottoms, windbreakers and fleeces. Pieces that suggest teams, institutions and muddy sidelines rather than sleek individual optimisation.
