What is Athleisure – a man’s guide to the popular Fitness Fashion Trend.
There’s been an undeniable and distinctive rise in the global Athleisure trend, but, you can be forgiven for not having a full understanding or appreciation of the term. Let us enlighten you.
Athleisure is a modern fusion of sportswear and casual wear. Essentially such garments (yoga pants, joggers and racer backs), are a hybrid between clothes that you’d wear for exercising; running errands or grabbing lunch in. Commonly athleisure garments are light weight and tight fitting, stretchy and easy to move in and made from soft, silky, comfortable fabrics.
So why have they become so popular?
There are several thought leading ideas to why this trend has become so popular with men and women over the past decade:
Performance Benefits
Many athleisure brands design clothes that have performance enhancing features to support the body that is wearing them. Modern fibres enable greater odour reduction, sweat-wicking and stretchability to conform to the body’s shape, breathability to allow air in and out, and protection from dirt. Some clothing designs allow more breathability to flow to certain areas of the body, while other sections provide greater tension or padding, to protect weaker joints and muscles. A type of athleisure is sometimes called “technical wear” which describes clothes that are more suitable for wearing to the office while being comfortable.
Aesthetic Association
There’s no denying that the dad bod is out and the gym bod is in. Society’s shift towards health and fitness has led to a growing participation in sport, outdoor clubs and gym memberships. The desire to show off an interest in personal body fitness and visually convey an alignment to this kind of lifestyle, has become very important to those who choose to partake in it. Athleisure garments often hug the contours of the body very closely, so when those gains to reveal themselves, they could arguably become your best wardrobe assets.
Convenience
Athleisure clothes can be combined with other garments and accessories to make them suitable for multiple occasions throughout the day, without having to change. It’s far more convenient to wear a well-designed, quality pair of joggers and fleeced jacket to meet a friend for a coffee before your crossfit class, without having to take a gym bag and extra set of clothes. Go a step further and team them up with a leather jacket and sunglasses and you’re set for the whole day! Not only that, but this kind of athleisure layering has also become notoriously cool and is arguably the next evolution of 90s streetwear.
If you’re not sure about trying the athleisure trend, we’d recommend starting with a few smaller pieces to see how you get on with the transition. 10 LDN’s performance sports socks fuse design and functionality, making them suitable for walking around town, hitting the gym or on the pitch. The striking designs in their introductory collection are the perfect accessory to your new athleisure collection. Try them with 20% using code ATHLEISURE10.
