Athleisure wear: fashionable or a big flop

In recent years, athleisure wear has broken the confines of the gym and taken over the streets. Leggings, sweatpants, and Lululemon jackets have become staples in almost everyone’s closets, turning these clothes into everyday attire. Some choose to rock the occasional pair of yoga pants, while others embrace the whole yoga-mom chic. No matter the preferred type of wear, the pieces all stem from the same place – the world of working out. With their commonality, can these pieces really be considered part of the fashion world, or are they just another flop being mass-produced to end up in landfills?

There is no question about the popularity of athleisure-wear as a whole. The hype around these clothes is something that cannot be ignored. With almost every retailer producing a variety of these pieces, there is no escaping them when trying to buy new clothes. Whenever you go out, you are almost guaranteed to see some sort of sportswear that has been circling the internet, with brands making claims that they are the best on the market.  Hundreds of variations of the classic black leggings can be seen sprouting up all over the place. Sweatpants are being made in all different shapes and colors. Patterns, cuffed or uncuffed, and other variations leave the consumer wanting more, and they are here to provide. Some people go out of their way to spring for the more expensive brand of Lululemon, one of the most popular ‘luxury’ brands of this category of clothing. A lot of the more recent trends in leggings have come from the need to own the brand rather than the piece, leaving people to buy multiple pairs of almost the exact same pair of pants or jacket, with a minor difference here and there that can barely be spotted by an outside observer. 

To me, a lot of these clothes just seem like clones of themselves. It is hard to differentiate between one brand and another when they all produce the same type of clothing. This creates a blandness in the fashion industry that ruins the personality of the things you wear. When everyone is competing to wear the same pair of black leggings or trendy sweatpants, it becomes a massive look-alike contest between you and millions of other people. Fashion is all about the ability to express yourself with the clothing that you wear, and that’s just not possible when your only options out there devolve into the same 20 variations of athleisure wear. Sure, some people can take a chic athletic piece from the past few decades and use it to elevate their wardrobes, but a lot of the more recent pieces blend into the ocean of never-ending microtrends that should’ve stayed in the gym.

XOXO, The Fashion Stock Market