Are we really ditching Lycra?
Form-fitting activewear has been the uniform of selection for Pilates, yoga and most train courses for many years – a lot in order that its affect has grown to surpass the realm of train, even. Working from dwelling, or operating to the retailers? Slip on some leggings, runners and also you’re good to go.
Our common love for activewear seemingly reached a peak throughout Covid, with lots of native brands reporting booming gross sales over Australia’s lockdown.
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But that was then, that is now. In July this yr, Business of Fashion boldly declared “the reign of leggings” over.
“The slow fade of leggings from their once-dominant perch in the athleisure hierarchy is in no small part driven by a generational divide,” writer Cathaleen Chen wrote. Leggings are the telltale indicators of millennials, she defined, whereas Gen Z gravitate in direction of outsized, slouchier exercise garments.
“For these younger consumers, comfort isn’t about stretch — it’s about ease, looseness and a kind of anti-polished attitude that reverses the decade-long supremacy of immaculately matching colour-blocked sets,” Cathaleen argued.
Her phrases positively ring a bell. Back in July, I interviewed Good Times Pilates trainer, Georgia Lucyabout her well-liked ‘wearing anything but Lycra to teach Pilates’ TikTok movies.
Rather than skin-tight leggings and crop tops, Georgia spoke about the significance of dressing in what makes you are feeling snug. For her, that usually includes drapey blouses, free pants and pure fibres. “Sometimes, as a bloated girlie, I just want to wear a pair of baggy pants,” she stated.
Her sentiment is echoed throughout TikTok. There’s a seemingly infinite listing of individuals sharing movies of their very own outsized and dishevelled health club outfits. Whether it’s for consolation, comfort or a easy act of defiance, customers’ style in activewear positively really feel like they’re shifting.
But is that sufficient to declare leggings over? Wanting to get an inside take, I reached out to three Australian activewear brands to see if these altering tendencies replicate a tangible change in gross sales.
So, have brands observed a shift?
Nagnata is a Byron Bay luxurious trend and life-style model that sits at the intersection between activewear and leisurewear. The label has lengthy supplied each ends of the spectrum, from form-fitting seamless leggings to monitor pants, and its current foray into denim.
Though they’ll all the time stay a core half of Nagnata’s collections, the model did discover a small dip in leggings gross sales over the winter months. “Much of our business is still seasonal. A warmer Australian winter likely contributed to consumers gravitating toward lighter, looser pieces,” head of Marketing Verena Lukas says. Alternatively, monitor pants continued to develop in reputation.
“Another factor influencing this is that we have never offered very tight, and sometimes uncomfortable, Lycra activewear but allow our customers to work out in natural, non-toxic fibres,” she explains. “Our customers train in yoga, Pilates, and daily movement. Sometimes they want the more supportive compression of a legging, sometimes they prefer the ease of a loose pant.”
Rather than abandoning a class, Nagnata’s strategy is as a substitute to refine and broaden.”You’ll proceed to see each types evolving every season, with some thrilling new monitor pant choices in the works.”
Australian label Pinky and Kamal have had the same expertise. The model is understood for its distinctive tackle activewear, with asymmetrical cuts, one-shoulder tops or cut-outs. Though Pinky and Kamal inventory form-fitting leggings and tops, it’s expanded its ready-to-wear vary with boxy T-shirts, free tops, monitor pants and wrap cardigans.
The model has observed a slight drop in leggings gross sales, however model supervisor Lucia Townsend-Sim says there’s been an uptick in flared cuts and various types. “We’ve definitely noted a shift in recent years,” she explains.
“People are opting more and more for natural fibres, too, whether it be for the feel, breathability, or the long-lasting nature of the fabric. There’s also been a huge demand for styles that are wearable both to work out in but also cross as a ready-to-wear piece you can style.”
Lorna Jane has lengthy been a go-to for individuals throughout Australia searching for conventional activewear types. However its newest assortment has launched lounge shirts, utility jackets, denim pants and boxy three quarter shorts into the rotation.
“Form-fitting leggings are still a bestseller for us and will always be a cornerstone of our brand, but there’s definitely a lift in more relaxed silhouettes and lifestyle pieces,” founder Lorna Jane Clarkson tells me. “Wide-legs, flares, and our iconic Flashdance pant collections are having a real moment again.”
“We’re also seeing more layering happening with lightweight over-shirts and lifestyle pieces that take you seamlessly from a workout to coffee with friends. It’s that mix of comfort and versatility that’s really resonating right now.”
Team leggings or free pants?
Rather than paying an excessive amount of thoughts to tendencies, Lorna emphasises the significance of providing individuals a selection. Just as you don’t have to don an identical lycra set to the health club, you don’t have to put on a drapey shirt and pants, both.
Inevitably, some individuals will choose sweat wicking supplies, whereas others will all the time go for free and breathable fibres. Maybe, as a substitute of it being about selecting one or the different, there’s a phrase the place leggings and parachute pants can train side-by-side in concord.
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