Athleisure

In the 1930s, the American sportswear company Champion began producing hoodies for American working-class laborers working in freezing temperatures. In 1958, the American chemical maker DuPont invented spandex, a crucial material component foundational in many pieces of contemporary athleisure. The German sportswear company Adidas popularized athletic fashion by introducing sport-to-street tracksuits in 1963. By the 1970s, athletic fashion was ubiquitous throughout North American street culture which grew in popularity throughout the 1980s from old school hip hop music videos.^[6]

By some accounts, the growth of the modern athleisure trend took root during the mid-2010s, which itself grew out of the popularity of yoga pants that emerged throughout the mid to late 2000s. Springing from the convenience of wearing clothes allowed North American women to casually wear yoga pants for multiple occasions without having to frequently change. Its popularity may have also stemmed from its ability to fill a gap in the sportswear market, when athletic apparel was once merely utilitarian rather than for stylistic and cosmetic purposes.^[7] Another account suggests that the cyclical nature of blue jean sales has allowed athleisure apparel to supplant denim as casual wear.^[8][9][10] Activewear that had been worn exclusively in gyms is now being worn elsewhere by young adults and fitness-conscious consumers and has been accompanied by a relaxation in dress codes. The styles, colors, and fabrics of athleisure suggest a broader emphasis on fashion as opposed to functionality.^[11] Innovations in textiles have brought improvements in functionality, such that modern garments and footwear have become more breathable, lightweight, stretchy, versatile, comfortable, fashionable, durable, and waterproof. Contemporary garments are performance enhancing and allow wearers to carry out everyday activities easily.^[12]

Evolution in the 2020s

By 2020, a so-called "next-gen athleisure" category had emerged, owing to increasing acceptance in the workplace as well as advancements in fabric and production technology, which has led yoga pants to also function as an acceptable form of officewear.^[1] The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a continued increase in the popularity of athleisure wear. Some fashion brands that had previously made streetwear or suits pivoted to items like hoodies and jogging trousers, since many people were quarantined at home and wanted comfortable clothing that would still look stylish for virtual meetings.^[13][14]

Reports in USA Today and The Wall Street Journal in 2015 described the athleisure market as growing, displacing typical workwear styles, and cutting in to sales of jeans, with a market size in 2014 of US$35 billion, representing an 8% increase from the previous year.^[5][15][16] According to one estimate, the athleisure market, including footwear, was US$270 billion in 2016, and was estimated to grow 30% in the United States and Asia by the year 2020.^[17] The global athleisure market as of 2018, as assessed by Allied Market Research, was noted to estimated at US$155 billion.^[1] In Canada as of 2019, "active" or athleisure clothing made up about 25 per cent of the apparel that Canadians were buying, but in 2021 that number grew to more than one-third, with sales growing twice as fast as other forms of clothing.^[14] A report by Market Research Future anticipates the market to surpass US$842 billion by 2028.^[18]

In spite of this, there is an arising issue regarding market saturation with athleisure being regarded as traditional luxury and mass merchant brands tap into this trend.^[10] The athleisure market for casual athletic clothing has become increasingly crowded with big-box retailers such as Walmart and Target, as well as fast fashion brands joining the fray, often at cheaper prices. A market analyst estimated that the athleisure market was not slowing down, with much competition and pressure on various retail outlets including sporting goods stores.^[15]

Social

Global shifts toward an awareness in health and rise in fitness trends have led to growing interest and participation in sports among the public. Many have actively joined sporting clubs and competitions in order to fully adopt the characteristics of the contemporary athleisure lifestyle. Consequently, sportswear brands have capitalized on this opportunity to improve and introduce better quality apparel, footwear, and gear for sale to potential customers, which allows modern sportswear brands to cultivate customer loyalty by showcasing their commitment to promoting a healthy lifestyle through their products.^[19]

Athleisure has been promoted by celebrities such as Beyoncé and Rihanna.^[20] It has been criticized because of the way it displays the feminine form. In a 2019 article in the New York Times which focused specifically on leggings, the question was asked, "When did leggings make the leap from garment to cultural lightning rod?" In a letter to the editor of The Observer, school newspaper at the University of Notre Dame, reported the Times, a woman wrote, "it was for their own as well as the greater good [for women not to wear leggings] in part because leggings made it hard for men to control themselves."^[21]

Materials and technology

Scientific advancements have led to the rise of new modern technical fibers being developed and used to make athleisure more resistant to wear and tear, water, grease, and stains as well as to enable greater odor reduction, sweat-wicking, and stretchability to conform to the human body's shape.^[20][22] Some athleisure designs allow certain segments more breathability while other parts can have greater tension or durability.^[23] A type of athleisure sometimes called "technical wear" focuses on clothes that are more suitable for wearing to the office while also being comfortable in concurrence.^[20]

Environmental

There have been concerns that materials used in athleisure may have negative consequences for the environment; these chemicals include dyes and solvents and polyfluorinated chemicals and petroleum which are used to make athleisure resistant to water and grease and stains.^[24]

Look up athleisure in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Activewear
• Exercise dress
• Fitness culture
• Gorpcore
• Sportswear
• Women's sports