As an athlete, the athleisure trend is totally something I have adopted into my own style. Sometimes it’s just so easy to ditch a nice outfit for the day and wear your favorite pair of leggings and a comfy sport top. My athletic clothing is the most comfortable clothing I own and on days when I have an exam or might be super busy, why wouldn’t I want to be wearing what I’m most comfortable in? What are your thoughts on athleisure? Yes or no? “Ath-what-ure?!” I’m sure you can imagine my grandmother’s reaction when I said the word athleisure to my sister the other day. For my generation of millennials, athleisure has just about joined the rest of our evolving lingo in the dictionary (OMG, selfie, LOL), but to many people, my grandmother for example, it’s a foreign concept.
So what the heck is it? It’s a movement. It’s a generational shift. It’s a sign that things are changing. This new generation is all about taking care of themselves—doing yoga, drinking green juice, using environmentally-friendly products, cleansing. And, of course, with that comes a new sense of style. I reached out to Caroline Malone to learn more about this new and thriving movement. According to Malone, Community and Content Manager for Reebok Global Social Media, “There is a distinction between putting on workout clothes with no intention of working out and calling it athleisure, and combining your everyday clothes with your workout clothes for a full lifestyle look.” Malone and I discussed what it means to be a part of this “fit gen” lifestyle, as Reebok refers to it. For me, I’m all about what’s new in the workout world. Just in the past year I’ve started rock climbing, spinning, taking Barre classes, and road biking just to change up my workout. It’s a part of who the fit gen is—we are constantly seeking new adventures, trends, and ideas to keep our lives fresh and exciting. As a result, our clothing choices are the medium with which we express this lifestyle. It’s our way of combining our love of new fashion trends with our love of new workout trends. It’s quite a beautiful marriage, if you ask me. Because of its popularity among millennials, companies are starting to catch on, even those who we previously did not associate with athleisure. Take Victoria’s Secret, for example. Since the launch of their new sport business, Victoria Sport, you can now see VSX tank tops, sports bras, and leggings all over the place, not just in the gym. Just last week I combined some of my favorite workout clothes with some of the most timeless pieces in my closet: black Victoria Sport leggings and sport bra, my favorite pair of Reebok sneakers, a grey cowl-neck sweater, my cargo jacket, and my leather cross body from Italy. Not only was I comfy, but I think I put together a pretty cute outift. And I could have easily changed my plans for the day and hopped into a quick barre class. Clothing isn’t the only thing that has changed for Victoria’s Secret as a result of this new fit gen, however. Their beauty business has also seen changes in recent months with the launch of their daily body care line, which focuses more on subtle scents and minimal ingredients. Luxury brands are even trying to take advantage of this new lifestyle trend—Tory Burch now has her own sport line and Dior recently launched their new Hydra Life beauty care line geared towards our younger generation. So what’s next for athleisure? That’s not necessarily something we can predict. However, we can make some assumptions. Malone captured this idea perfectly when asked if she thought athleisure was just a phase: “I think it’s here to stay but I think it will transform.” We may see more men start to embrace the athleisure lifestyle, we may see more of it on the runway, or it may surprise us and disappear forever. What makes our fit gen so exciting is that the world never knows what we’re going to do next. For athleisure, however, one thing is for sure. Any transformations it makes will be exposed in our style choices.
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