When sport carves out a suit<

Home |Well-being & Luxury |

When sport carves out a suit

Sport is fashionable, cuts, fabrics, comfort, city clothes worn daily are more and more openly inspired by the sporting world. What if this trend was in fact just a return to basics?

Are you reading this article at work? If so, chances are you are dressed in “sports” attire. Because, yes, suits and other contemporary suits have their roots in the sportswear of yesteryear. At the end of the 18th century, while the French nobility lived at court, English aristocrats preferred to spend most of their time on their lands, indulging in hobbies such as horse riding or fox hunting. The outfits of the time, awkward for riding, are getting shorter. A style soon taken up in the rest of Europe, the “riding coat” becoming the frock coat when crossing the Channel.

Over time, the search for ease in movement will make hunting jackets evolve into what they have still become today: the suit-jacket. In search of comfort, these ladies and gentlemen were quick to export this then very innovative fashion to the city. Hitherto very colorful, these costumes will darken as they become urbanized. Unsanitary streets and the air then invaded by soot particles will get the better of the fantasy, tastes evolving towards less dirty tones. If you feel stuck in your suit, take comfort: this is the modern version of a sporty outfit.

In fact, this founding act of classic dress as we know it today has continued to repeat itself cyclically, accelerating in recent years. If sport and fashion do not seem a priori to be linked (the first being oriented towards functionality, the second towards style), our daily clothes are increasingly taking up sporting genetic codes in their cut and the technicality of the materials in which they are made. are pruned.

At the same time, we are now able to wear sports clothes on a daily basis. A recent study states that two-thirds of sportswear clothing is not purchased exclusively for sport, while evoking a gradual disappearance of the distinction between leisure and street clothing.

Sportswear becomes institutionalized -

From the first half of the 20th century, the birth of sportswear triggered the evolution that enabled fashion to gradually make its transition from haute couture to ready-to-wear in the 1960s. Pieces initially designed to be used exclusively on sports grounds, such as the polo shirt invented by René Lacoste in 1920. It will quickly impose itself in chic circles, to the point that it is dressed in these same polo shirts as the recent American heroes who prevented the attack of the Thalys train went to be decorated at the Elysée Palace.

Set up at the National Sports Museum in Nice and having closed its doors on September 20, the exhibition "En mode sport" retraced the history of the intimate ties uniting sport and fashion from 1880 to 2015. Through more than 400 pieces from museums and private collections, this exhibition allowed us to understand how the practice of sport has influenced fashion, going from its popular dimension to the most elitist. Final observation: the history of sport and the history of fashion have never been so close.

This movement is reflected today by the emergence of hybrids merging the two styles. The big groups, like Kering, which owns Gucci and Saint Laurent, but also Puma, were not mistaken in seeing lifestyle sport as a major trend in which to invest. It's been more than ten years since Puma teamed up with Alexander McQueen or Adidas launched its collaborations with Stella McCartney and Yohji Yamamoto.

The latter's influence in accelerating this movement is notable, thanks in particular to his Y-3 line, the quintessence of sports streetwear. Even the basic T-shirt is now an essential couture piece, such as the famous Rottweiler launched by designer Riccardo Tisci in 2011 at Givenchy at a price of 265 dollars.

How to Make Garden Hot Caps from Used Milk Jugs http://t.co/9b2jnWIX

— wikiHow Thu Mar 01 16:37:21 +0000 2012

The consumer wants to be an influencer -

According to Valentine Ebner, lecturer in bachelor fashion design and trend analysis at the HEAD university in Geneva, this movement is the reaction to a more global evolution, that of a consumer influencer who no longer wants to submit to diktats or let yourself be boxed in. Thus, the codes of clothing would have relaxed, creating the opportunity to develop a whole range of less formal products with hybrid influences.

“Previously intended for extreme use, innovative textiles provide qualities of comfort (breathing, lightness, solidity, elasticity) and maintenance. The nanotechnologies applied to woolen suits allow less frequent washing, no ironing, etc.” She continues: “The use of these new materials has made it possible to play in a new register of forms if I think of the wave of foams, neoprenes and 3D knits, initiated by Nicolas Guesquière at Balenciaga. He was thus able to revisit the codes of cut of the house thanks to these textiles of a new kind. Obviously, the neoprenes are not those of our diving suits but a reworked version for use compatible with ready-to-wear or luxury”. A new deal that his students have integrated and which is reflected in their creations.

Here it is interesting to point out the contribution of the hip-hop musical movement to the acceleration of the phenomenon: by adapting sportswear to their outfits from the start, rappers and other R&B singers played a model role in the adoption of this trend among younger generations.

From field to catwalk-

The phenomenon is also observed at the level of the feet: now, basketball invites itself to the office. If yesterday the market was in the hands of the two giants Nike and Adidas, today the situation has changed with the proliferation of models designed by couture brands such as Maison Martin Margiela, Givenchy, Valentino, Saint Laurent, Lanvin or Balenciaga. Indisputable proof of this fashion revolution, even Berluti, the emblematic house of leather shoes, has released its model of “sneaker bootmaker”, baptized Playtime.

Faced with the arrival on their territory of luxury houses, the major sports brands are multiplying collaborations by offering limited editions Raf Simons for Adidas, Converse for Missoni... while successfully reissuing old models that have fallen into disuse such as the Adidas Stan Smith.

The shoe makes it possible to approach another aspect of the subject: the influence of the sportsmen themselves on the tendencies. A champion in the field, retired basketball player Michael Jordan collects nearly $100 million each year to lend his name to the giant Nike's Air Jordan range.

The most followed sport worldwide, football offers the best example of the transition from pitches to catwalks: the looks of footballers are observed, dissected and copied. More than movie or singing stars, they have become true fashion icons of modern times. To the point that brands a priori very far from the sporting universe are investing massively in these image vectors.

The French house Smalto officially supplies the costumes of the Blues to the city. South of the Alps, in addition to their Hublot wristwatch, it is Trussardi who dresses the players of Juventus in Turin, while the Argentinian prodigy Lionel Messi benefits from an exclusive contract with Dolce & Gabbana. A pioneer in the field, David Beckham has become its archetype by multiplying ambassador contracts for fashion brands.

Equipment manufacturers no longer hesitate to take the opposite route: introduce fashion into sports venues. We remember the famous plaid shorts worn by Stan Wawrinka during the Roland-Garros tennis tournament. Designed by the Yonex brand, it quickly went from being a “gag” to a huge commercial success.

Noble and technical materials -

An opportunity that some Swiss entrepreneurs do not want to pass up. This is the case of Emyun, a newly launched French-speaking brand which wishes to offer the concept of “running couture”. According to its co-founder Rodolphe Huynh, “clothes are worn today without limits of time, genre or place. Sportswear has abolished the barriers between streetwear and sportswear. We must be beautiful and well during all our activities, and now including in the effort. »

These new kind of athletes identify more easily with values ​​stemming from well-being or craftsmanship and are looking for a less exuberant, more elegant aesthetic for their sportswear, while benefiting from the qualities of noble and technical materials. .

Last stage of the incursion of the sports wardrobe into classic fashion: the "wearables", understand the connected clothes. Z Zegna, a more sporty and casual range from the Italian house Ermenegildo Zegna, now offers clothing equipped with wireless rechargeable batteries, capable of warming their wearers during outdoor winter activities. Going further, the American brand Ralph Lauren has introduced a new textile incorporating fibers allowing the recording of heart rate, stress level or oxygenation rate by sending it in real time to your smartphone.

A return to origins crossed with futuristic progress, the great fusion of sport and fashion is a major trend, now fully integrated by players in the sector. When will fashion weeks migrate to the Olympic stadiums?

Found an error? Please let us know.

This article was automatically imported from our old content management system to our new website. It may have some formatting errors. Please report any errors to community-feedback@tamedia.ch. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation.