Athleisure at Leisure--Shrey

Are you wearing jeans and a polo? If so your living in the past. Are You wearing sweats a hoodie? If so you’re a part of the relatively new athleisure movement. Can you imagine walking out of your house and seeing everyone in business casual attire? Not too long ago, this is probably what you could have expected. What probably started off as people being lazy, has become its own fashion category. Athleisure is defined as “​casual, comfortable clothing designed to be suitable both for exercise and everyday wear.”​ Athleisure is popular because it gives lazy people an easy alternative to wearing a matching button-up, pants, and accessories. This phenomenon began during the 2010s, mostly with women wearing comfortable yoga pants outside the gym, in almost every aspect of their lives, but it later became gender-neutral as guys began to take advantage of the freedom to wear super-comfortable clothes all the time. This more relaxed look and feel quickly became a theme in daily attire and became a new lifestyle. People went about their daily lives wearing clothes that people would exercise in. The atmosphere quickly changed from people always wearing business casual clothes whenever they went out, even to places as normal as the grocery store, to a new relaxed fashion. As this trend spread across the globe, new brands formed, and competition started to form between the brands, and what each one said about its customers. Now, some brands are made out of all renewable materials, others donate money to charity whenever you buy their product, and some have celebrity endorsers. Before this movement, a pair of sweats was relatively cheap, but after the change brands like lululemon began to sell “high-end” athleisure clothes. Lululemon changed how people viewed fashion, “The clothes could easily go from the gym to the street because the fabrics wicked sweat and didn’t stink, and the styles were fresh and flattering.” What was started to make simple choices in life easier quickly changed. This trend became a way for people to show off their social status just as they did with their jeans and button-ups in the past. From a retail standpoint, this was a whole new market to exploit. Many major retailers joined the bandwagon and competition began. Designers brands also wanted a piece of the fun, and Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi also have their own sweatpants for sale. According to Forbes, “The industry is now worth $44 billion in the U.S.” Ironically, athleisure started as a way for people to escape from the demands of fashion to another way for them to compete with each other. Brands market athleisure accessories, jewelry, shoes, and matching outfits. Anyone wearing lower-end versions of popular looks might find themselves getting judged for not keeping up with the newest trends. While this trend initially seemed liberating for those who wanted to be more comfortable, it now puts those same people in a situation where they have to be just as fashion-conscious as anyone else. Easier to just relax in a pair of jeans and a polo. 

Sources:
- https://www.google.com/search?q=athleisure+definition&oq=Athleisure+&aqs=chrome.3.
69i59j0l5j69i61l2.7288j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/chipwilson/2018/04/18/why-the-word-athleisure-is-complete
ly-misunderstood/#10b0cc046971