Athleisure: The Rise of Wine O'clock Moms
“It’s wine o’clock!” Gill calls across the floor as she rolls up her yoga mat.
Athleisure and women born between the years of 1970-1980 have been a bigger hit than crease guards and sole protectors that Gen Alpha kids put on the Jordan 1 Mids. We can all agree that there are times when athleisure can look pretty bad… but there are many times it’s done right. Now before you burn me at the stake, just hear me out — at least for a paragraph or two because, while yes, athleisure can look like complete ass, it can also go stoopid hard(?) In a mostly female-dominated subgenre of clothing, athleisure can look hot for the bros too.
Before I go and give you a deep dive onto sick labels like Lululemon Lab, the hottest brand, to go cop so you can show that big ol’ dump truck to all the soccer moms (milfs) at your local yoga spot, I think it’s important for you to know what athleisure wear is! Athleisure is simply using activewear in contexts of everyday wear (it’s not that hard to get, it kinda explains itself in the name). The most common mental picture of athleisure that comes to my mind might look like Fila Disruptors (or possibly some smoked forces), tights, a matching crop singlet/sports bra and maybe a jacket over the top (possibly a big black puffa)! I think we’ve also entered the post-athleisure era where we are still wearing athletic adjacent attire, like grey sweats, champion hoodies, new balance etc, but with a cozier/sophisticated twist – I’m not gonna describe it to you, bro, just go look at an ALD lookbook or something. The important thing to note is that Athleisure is wearing fitness-focused clothes but for a different purpose.
Lululemon Lab was conceptualised and brought to life in Vancouver, British Columbia in 2009, but then extended and extrapolated in 2016 when a Lululemon Lab store was opened in New York. Lululemon Lab (now referring to it as LL Lab) is not your everyday Lulu tights or sweat-wicking chinos. It’s so much more. Designers working under the Lulu Lab umbrella have been given the freedom to create clothes that often sit outside the realm of what you would normally expect from Lulu.
I first experienced LL Lab when I was in Paris and because my wife gets LL on the low due to her professional registration giving her discounts, we often have to go in no matter where we are. We walked into an everyday Lulu store and I kinda dawdled around the store, lazily perusing the racks in the tiny men’s corner and then suddenly, I felt the soft touch of wool that I did not expect. Inspecting closer, they were pants? Nah that’s crazy for real. Consider my interest piqued. I perused harder and discovered many pieces that made me go “damn, these are sick.”
LL Lab contains both total athletic wear and everyday wear. Some of these pieces could be placed in the covert athleisure category, while a lot of it is still wearable for hot yoga. LL Lab isn’t widely available in Australia, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be looking out for it. I’ll drop some looks below for your eyes to enjoy
Taken over by Teddy Santis in 2021 (and creating his first season in 2022), New Balance’s Made in the USA (MiUSA) collection has that perfect cozy-nostalgic-athleisure that couldn’t be more perfect for all times of the year. We all know New Balance for their footwear (especially the MiUSA models), but what NB was originally lacking, has now become a staple part of their image. MiUSA clothing offers a uniform. Nothing graphic heavy, but the colours make enough of a statement. A myriad of tees, shorts, sweatpants, sweatshirts, and hoodies to mix and match however you please.
You would think that when a person like Teddy Santis, the creator of Aime Leon Dore (a.k.a one of the most heinously expensive labels), would use the opportunity to bring clothes with that ALD uniform feel to the people who can’t justify paying ALD prices, right? WRONG. Bro still hits you with that hefty price tag and kicks the poor commoner people down the stairs. There are positives to it, and that is I think they use classic materials and use them well – I’m a big fan of the nylon shorts that they had in the previous season and would like to see some track pants in the near future; however, despite that, I don’t think I can justify paying $200 AUD for some cotton sweatpants when I know there are many great labels that offer the same product for a more competitive price. Despite this, the NB/ALD aesthetic is always a winner so I’ve provided some looks down below.
Now, I could talk about the most obvious athleisure brand, Sporty and Rich, but that’s for chicks and dudes rock so I’m not gonna. Instead, I’m going to be talking about my favourite athletic label (besides Satisfy), District Vision (DV).
Alright, I admit, this is once again quite an expensive label, but in District Vision’s defence, the clothes they make are designed to withstand sweatastic activities and made with an intentional mind. What I love about DV is that half of their catalogue is designed to be worn in the act of exercise, while the other half is designed to be worn after your workout when you’re grabbing a coffee with the running group.
Initially, DV started out as an eyewear label (get it? District Vision?!), but then pushed their own limits and ventured into the space of clothing, and even footwear. They have a lot to offer from tights to jackets, sweatshirts, fleece, and even bike apparel. While their clothing looks great, I would like to think that their ethos or the ‘why’ of their label is just as great as their clothes. Tom and Max, the creators of DV claim they “believe in a holistic approach to athleticism and the idea that mental wellbeing is the foundation of every form of physical exercise.” That’s obvious when you look at their designs and their explanations as to why they created them and how one should use them and it’s something that I value quite highly. On top of that, I think DV is the perfect poster child for the runner’s aesthetic as well (which yes, also includes the athleisure aesthetic).
I love a lot of their stuff, so picking my favourite looks is hard; however, I’ve tried my best.
As you can see, athleisure isn’t just for the SUV-driving mothers, or the girl who wants to look like their favourite celebrity. It’s for the people who live the lifestyle of athletics, who need that next level of comfort but in an elevated way, or just simply want to feel cozy. There are many ways you can go about it, but many of those ways are wrong. You could cop the first pair of tights you see on the PE Nationa website (not linking them on purpose btw), or you can dig a little deeper and make some sensible decisions.