When you combine two of the most successful and influential industries, you are bound to get a winner. That’s exactly what happened when sports and fashion come together to produce one of the most subscribed trends of our times – Athleisure wear.
Model walks runway during We Are Handsome fashion show Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia on 18 May 2016 in Carriageworks in Sydney. Photo by Marie Matata, Deposit Photos.
When you combine two of the most successful and influential industries, you are bound to get a winner. That’s exactly what happened when sports and fashion come together to produce one of the most subscribed trends of our times – Athleisure wear.
The fashion of sports
Athletes, in general, have long been admired and idolised, both for their feat on the sporting stage as well as their physical appearance. Perhaps it is this desire to emulate a favourite or celebrity athlete that drives people to be decked out in sportswear – tweaked to suit their everyday life.
Twenty one times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in action during her final match at Australian Open 2016 at Australian tennis center in Melbourne. Photo by Zhukovsky, Deposit Photos.
It’s common these days, for example, to spot a woman in yoga pants on the street even if you know she’s on her way to work rather than yoga practice – the laptop bag and stiletto heels being the give away. The same can be said of running sneakers as well. Athleisure has also become acceptable in the workplace. The idea behind the trend is stylish comfort, and it has even graced the high-fashion catwalks around the world under well-known labels like Dior, Fenty X Puma and Marc Jacobs.
Spring/Summer 2018 is set to see the return of the athleisure trend with big name designers matching sportswear with silk skirts and dresses, jumpsuits inspired by scuba diving, motocross, and ski sports, just to name a few.
Christian Dior, Fenty X Puma, Marc Jacobs, Stella Jean. Images by Personal Shop
The desire to look and feel good
Everyone wants to look healthy and fit, and if athleisure wear makes people feel that way in addition to being comfortable and trendy, then there is more reason for the athleisure trend to stay. But to rock the trend, one should ideally have a healthy-looking body that is not overweight. However, weight loss can be a truly lonely path. Imagine watching your friends tuck into their ice cream while you desperately try to resist from buying a cone yourself.
“Weight loss should not be a sad and painful process whereby one is constantly feeling hungry and guilty,”
said Dr. Terence Tan, Director of Halley Medical Aesthetics when we asked him for advice on weight loss. He should know as he faced weight-related issues himself when he was younger.
“Many people think that they should starve themselves and do exercises that they hate to lose weight or fit into clothes that are the rage now. But it is not true; not when you know the science behind healthy weight loss. You can still eat the things you like as long as the energy in, or calories consumed, is the same as what you expend, or the calories burned, through exercise,” Dr. Tan explained.
He runs a medical aesthetics practice that has a special focus on weight loss and body contouring. In addition to helping patients lose weight via diet counselling with a nutritionist, meal replacements, and weight loss medications, Dr. Tan’s clinic also offers CoolSculpting, a method of removing unwanted fat in hard to lose areas through cryolipolysis.
Whether it is the athleisure trend or the next Spring/Summer runway look that you are hoping to make an appearance in, nothing beats being confident. And being confident starts with a healthy lifestyle that doesn’t make you feel sad but in fact, makes you happy that you are on your way to your body goal. If by wearing a certain kind of clothing makes them feel that way then perhaps that explains another reason behind the phenomena.
