A concept that takes birth from the idea of finely constructed and aesthetically enhanced active wear, “SPORTS COUTURE”, refers to ‘sporty wear of a couture variety’. With drifting patterns towards utilitarian fashion and the need of comfort in clothing at large – these new scads of quirky sweatshirts, oversized T-shirts and trousers that borderline as sweat pants, are entailing the emergence of a new class of relaxed active wear with an edge. Opening up the luxury markets in a diverse way, this traditional category is now being enhanced with high-end value in the form of peculiar motifs, embroideries, embellishments, beading, fabric innovation, panelling and other statement details. As the trend prolongs long enough in the fashion circuits, what’s left to be seen is, if it is a deep rooted phenomenon or just another passing du jour in fashion…
It can all be traced back to the peaking of Kenzo’s embroidered Eiffel tower and tiger head sweatshirts for Fall 2012 and Givenchy’s panther prints from Fall 2011, that credited active wear with the status of high fashion commodities. The validation came about when the sweatshirt trickled down from the runway to become a street-style frenzy and finally made its way to the racks of high street and fast fashion retailers including Zara with passable high street revisions at an affordable price.
Ever since the sports inspired garments have established as a concept, sweats and skirts surfaced to be one of the high-flying trends of Fall 2013. The most recent of fashion weeks, both men and women, accounted for the same, along with Resort Wear 2014 women and Spring/Summer 2014 menswear having underlining premises of sportswear, even in the most day to day designs and evening wear pieces.
From the ribbed cuff sweat pants, the chicer-than-before bombers and that hard to miss panelling as the foremost elements, the simplest of details in the form of colour ways, formations and motifs, in one way or the other are now sports inspired.
Dresses paired up with jackets and sweats, gowns that had an athletic make, sweatshirts combined with shorts, skater skirts and dresses, were all a recurring lot appearing in the collections of Prabal Gurung, Max Mara, DKNY, Anna Sui, Rag & Bone and the like. Imparting a technical appeal with neoprene hoodies and bonding fabrics in the most ingenious way was Gucci menswear, while Armani replaced the buttons on the blazers with zippers, James Long made jackets in a mesh fabric, and both Richard Nicoll and Christopher Kane showcased graphic sweatshirts that rendered a sports appeal. The advent of digital technology further enabled to create prints that aid in assigning the ideal standout element to this simple category of garments.
The case of sports couture presents a win-win situation to the designers and the modern consumer, to see how this simple class of garments elevated in value to classify as couture appends an affordability factor to the new aspirational class of consumers. As routines are transitional, the clothes should also go from one role to another with an apposite functionality – which could very well be ascribed as a reason for this agreeable infiltration of sportswear into formal and work wear territories, with an added class of couture!
