Can Fashion Week Be Sporty?
Thoughts on NYFW, a free idea from the U.S. Open and more...
No long essay this week (edit: sorta – my first bullet took on a life of its own), but I am looking forward to sharing some more interviews and perhaps some exploration of sports fashion history in the coming ones. Let me know what (or who!) you’d like to see featured here in the comments.
Boutique Sports Brands Launch at Fashion Week
Sports brands showing at New York Fashion Week is not anything new. Oiselle invited their pros to walk in a show in 2013. Actively Black showed their collections in 2022 and 2023. Nike is always in the conversation as is Adidas. But the idea of launching an activewear brand at NYFW – and not at, say, Outdoor Retailer – feels like a definite shift. In NYC, I spotted two new brands generating buzz with their fashion-forward previews.
There was a lot of talk in newsletters about Literary Sport, a new offering from Toronto’s Fran Miller that officially launches on September 27th but held an event at the Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery. I saw it mentioned in Laura Reilly’s Magasin, Sarah Shapiro’s Retail Diary, and Lauren Sherman’s Line Sheet. Shapiro called the brand “like The Row, High Sport and Tracksmith got together for a jog and brunch” while Sherman said “Literary Sport is inspired by technical gear, and running gear, especially. It plays into the idea that while no one really dresses up anymore, we still want to look dressed with swishy trousers, red bra tops and easy windbreakers.” Their website and social media don’t give much away, but I found this thanks to their Google metadata: “Meaningful details, exceptional fabrication, and understated silhouettes. Literary Sport is a concise edit of garments intended for activity.” Editions Magazine shared a peak at some styles and the preview. To me, it looks and feels like a woman-founded version of District Vision. This copy from their preview is giving me Haruki Murakami vibes.
To find a route to clarity. To awaken an inner idea. To elevate a way of being. To question your limitations. Your reason is your own; to step forward is to be someplace different than before.
Literary Sport designs garments intended for activity, with a perspective informed by collective experience across fashion, literature, and art – and inspired by the practice of running as a distinct shared language.
Interestingly, the messaging for the On x FKA Twigs training collection has a similar tone: “Every unique flow and flex is a chance to find deeper connections with our body, mind, and creative intuition. The body is art, so why don’t we treat it that way?”
As Nike recommits to a more bombastic tone with their “Winning isn’t for Everyone Campaign,” I think it’s noteworthy that brands are eschewing the big-tent energy of Lululemon (“activewear, loungewear and footwear for all the ways you love to move”) in favor of a more high-brow, artistic approach. Does fashionable activewear have to be erudite to be taken seriously?
In her newsletter and podcast, Lauren Sherman also referenced Spence, a “new player in racquet sports” that “starts from love” by Amanda Greeley. The brand showcased its first collection during Fashion Week with a Lower East Side pop-up and party with Racquet Magazine. Like Literary Sport, their styles were heavy on red, with a definite minimalist/modern vibe. The swan/heart logo is very covetable. Their Instagram doesn’t give too much away in terms of the Collection but does offer a little more insight on the brand vision and values: “Spence has always been red at heart, an interruption to the pure whites and grass greens that so often color racquet sports.” and “We noticed something – where other sports thrive on innovation, tennis has always been stuck in a nostalgia loop, always looking backward, attempting to recreate a hyper manicured past that feels increasingly disconnected from reality. When did the future stop being cool? At some point, nostalgia becomes boring – expected. If any color says “future,” it’s silver.”
Instagram Screenshots of Spence
Not NYFW, but I spotted Norwegian activewear brand Kari Traa showing at Oslo’s Fashion Week. “It’s incredibly exciting to be a part of Oslo Runway as this represents a unique opportunity to tear down barriers between different industries and show how fashion and an active lifestyle can be combined in creative and inspiring ways,” said Kari Traa, founder of the brand and a former World Freestyle Champion.
I’m not quite sure that the “barriers” between fashion and sports are quite that formidable, but I do think we’ll be seeing more activations around Fashion Month from boutique and behemoth1 sports brands looking to capitalize on the blurring lines between fashion and activewear. I’d love to see a brand host a sporting event that’s also a fashion show. Let’s see an NWSL soccer game or a track meet under the lights, where the athetes compete in a brand’s latest collection.
Notes from the U.S. Open
Free Idea: I saw the below tweet about Taylor Townsend’s lack of apparel sponsor and it got me thinking about what brand might be a good fit for her.
Townsend feels like a no-brainer for Lululemon. It would allow them to build on their tennis push and double down on inclusivity by supporting an incredibly talented athlete, activist, and mother. Signing her feels of a kind with their sponsorship of Nikki Hiltz and Tara Woodhall.
For those who share my passion for sports hair, Aryna Sabalenka’s slicked-back bun defeated Jessica Pegula’s billion-dollar braid and visor for the overall Championship title. Clean girl reigns supreme!
Outside of Spence, the U.S. Open bubbled up a few more new (to me) tennis brands with Scandi vibes: Palmes Society (from Copenhagen) and Sigrun (based in New York but named after a Norse valkyrie). Both are playing in the men’s court only (as of now.) Palmes Society has Flamingo Estate energy to me, and honestly, they should lean into that more.
Quick Thoughts
Things that Drew my Eye or Ire…
I stumbled on this story in Surfworld called “The End of Big Surf,” and it seemed to align a lot with some of the discussions around the void Nike is leaving in running and the rise of more “authentic” players. Two quotes that stood out:
“Whatever the surf industry is today, it feels like there’s a better balance. It’s not as top-heavy, and there’s a cornucopia of smaller ventures out there, all paying respect to some corner of the surfing subculture, all of them with a different take on surfing, none of those takes dominant. A sustainable business is great – economically and environmentally – but it also needs to be culturally sustainable as well. It needs to give something back to surfing, in some small way. Surfers won’t let you sell it out.”
“There’s a natural size for a surf company, above which it becomes less surf, and more company.”
I want to do a surfwear deep dive, but two brands I like in this space are Salt Gypsy (“Focused on Developing Stylish & Long-Lasting Products for Discerning Women of the Sea”)2 and Finisterre, a Cornwall-based brand that emphasizes sustainability and Cornish surf culture. I like it when brands have a sense of place, and there are few sports more location-oriented than surfing.
Two news items I spotted thanks to MelaninMVP:
Angel Reese debuted her Angel A shoe with Reebok.
Francis Tiafoe sported a Washington Spirit NWSL jersey on the practice courts of the U.S. Open. Tiafoe often practices in sports jerseys, so it was fun to see him repping women’s sports. I was already rooting for him this made me love him even more.
Looks like Lululemon is joining Nike as the internet’s favorite brand to hate on. I agree with Klaas’ take below, regarding product vs brand marketing. I think this points to the shift I discussed above, where new activewear brands are going much more high-brow and high-fashion than Lululemon, which only seems to emphasize Lululemon’s middle-of-the-road energy.
Lastly, I’m seeing a lot of chatter about “Horse Girl Fall,” which seems to be a direct response to tenniscore as brands seek to keep the country club vibes going. Nearly every substack has some kind of barn jacket round-up and Hillhouse is teasing a new drop (coming tomorrow) that they photographed on a ranch. Both tennis and horseback riding are sports with fashion baked into their DNA. It’s as if we’ve moved beyond the idea of activewear as all-the-time wear, and are reverting to an era where sport was embedded into the daily life of those who could afford it. It’s giving big Brideshead Revisited vibes – a ride in the morning and tennis on the lawn after lunch. I am NOT a horse girl, but I am a history girl, so I appreciated this primer from Trish Mock.
I spotted Nike doing a fun event where editors were customizing their Cortez sneakers with beads. Assume they’re trying to get the Cortez to displace the Adidas Gazelle among the fashion set.
How are they getting away with this name?