Sports mixed with a passion for fashion. For years, physical activities have had some of the most impact on the world of fashion. Street style is used for sports, just like the way in which sports clothing has also influenced everyday clothing. By comparing these two, the body and what covers it over time are revealed. Or an increasingly comfortable set, capable of helping itself to move and free itself.
The concept of comfort in fashion was born in the 19th century, without ever deviating from the desire for elegance. In the 1910s and then in the Roaring Twenties, the young and slender body was fashionable, a silhouette that easily lent itself to exercise. And designers are not indifferent to it. They see room for innovation.
The iconic Coco Chanel opened a sports department in 1913 in her store in Deauville. In 1928, Elsa Schiaparelli added the sign “Pour le sport” to her surname when she opened her Parisian boutique at number 4 rue de la Paix. Jean Patou and Jeanne Lanvin also launched their sports lines and are considered some of the first sportswear designers. These were just the beginnings of sportswear, a term that began appearing in magazines of the time.
This relaxation of the wardrobe is accompanied by the use of new materials. Tweed, in particular, who is well known for luxury comes to mind for this mix. It is a felted woolen cloth that people wore for hunting or horse riding and which had the property of being quite waterproof at a time when there wasn’t any synthetic material. Jersey, for its part, replaces the shirts used during football or rugby matches at English universities, being more flexible and allowing the skin to breathe. It also becomes the raw material for polo shirts on tennis courts at the request of the player Jean René Lacoste. Later, it was the turn of lycra to make its debut in aerobics rooms where women did sports routines in unison, like Jane Fonda’s Workout . All these materials are gradually infusing fashion. They are also constantly being studied again and today, can imitate gazar, crepes or organza.
From the 1960s, André Courrèges envisioned a streamlined and powerful silhouette, to which all the youth of the time supported, creating a bridge between the two universes. Since then, Nicolas Ghesquière, at Louis Vuitton, long keen on this union, has explored this blended wardrobe with neoprene tank tops and couture diving jackets, to name only his 2024 cruise collection.
Demna, creative director of Baleciaga, also likes a sporty look, for his label Vetements, just like for Balenciaga where he channels football outfits as well as Forumla 1 equipment. Chanel, of course, does not fail to reference the sporting influences in its roots, from the Monaco Grand Prix recently to competition swimsuits with pearl necklaces. Not to mention Prada, who has always been on the case (Bowling bags, nylon clutches, the revisited Suzanne Lenglen outfits…). And the new realm of creators has already adopted all of this, such as Marine Serre, a former tennis player who experiments with athletic swimsuits, boxing robes, dumbbells and terry cloth bodycon pieces.
Considering sportswear, American designers are good examples, who have always made sport an art of living combined with a figure of style. Ralph Lauren, grand master of the genre, Tommy Hilfiger, and also Calvin Klein have shown this fluidity between sport and appeal.
Today, everyone wears sneakers, hats are no longer limited to stadiums, sweats are seen in the street even with heels, leggings take over the catwalks. Sports and fashion have merged to the point where collaborations are taking shape between artists and sports brands.
In 2001, Yohji Yamamoto asked Adidas to design shoes for his fall-winter fashion show: on the catwalk, sneakers with three stripes linked to his poetry. The Y3 line was created in 2003: an equipment manufacturer and a fashion designer. Since, Nike and Jacquemus, Adidas and Gucci, New Balance and Miu Miu, Salomon and Maison Margiela. As brands diversify their products, they each in turn offer their own vision of sneakers.
Fashion houses understand even more the value of sport when athletes become models to follow, particularly on social networks. Serena Williams, in her apple green Nike jumpsuit accessorized with fishnet tights at the 2019 Australian Open, delivers a fashion act. The tennis star then called on Off-White to design her silhouettes. Kylian Mbappé replaced Johnny Depp at Dior for the Sauvage perfume, Lionel Messi shook hands with his great rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, for a Louis Vuitton photo. The platforms mingle and merge, allowing athletes the freedom to compete in their race embellished with fluorescent false nails as well as becoming fashion icons parading for fashionable designers.
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