The tracksuit gradually evolved from sporting apparatus to fashion must-have.
PHOTO: UNSPLASH
If you’ve ever warmed up in a tracksuit, you’ll agree that this invention provides great convenience and is ideal for any sport. After just a short run or a set of calisthenics, the body heats up within the tracksuit, which then keeps one’s muscles warm and ready for intense activity.
Long before it was a fashion accessory, the tracksuit made its debut in the 1930s, as an overgarment called ‘the Sunday suit’. Created by French sports brand Le Coq Sportif, this early incarnation of the tracksuit was designed to keep athletes warm and safeguard their modesty.
However, it was not until the late 1960s when a then-small-sized German company called Adidas released its own tracksuit, in partnership with its country’s football superstar Franz Beckenbaur. Adidas founder Adolf Dassler pointed out that this unique sporting accessory was not only functional, but could also be worn as a flashy form of self-expression.
Testament to the success of Adidas’s campaign, athletes around the world began donning tracksuits throughout the 1970s, which at that time were mostly made from a mix of cellulose, triacetate and polyester.
A throwback-style Adidas tracksuit that pays homage to breakdancers, emcees and DJs of the 1980s.
PHOTO: UNSPLASH
From function to fashion
By the 1980s, hip-hop musicians and break dancers were suiting up in eye-catching tracksuits too. When global rap sensations like LL Cool J, Run DMC and the Beastie Boys made tracksuits their choice attire, this cemented tracksuits’ status as a fashion accessory. Shortly after, celebrities even began swathing themselves in ‘shellsuits’, which were more colourful nylon variations of the tracksuit.
Two Olympic Games in the 2010s proved to be pivotal junctures for the tracksuit. American fashion designer Ralph Lauren was commissioned to design tracksuits for Team USA for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony, and Stella McCartney was appointed Team Great Britain’s Creative Director for the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In the years to follow, a new trend nicknamed ‘athleisure (athletics and leisure)’ would further springboard the popularity of the tracksuit. Today, even top-tier luxury labels like Gucci and Miu Miu unveil at least one tracksuit every season.
Propelled not just by celebrities rocking their tracksuits on TikTok and in public, the current pandemic too has added to the longevity of this trend.
Today, tracksuits are deemed suitable for semi-formal occasions too.
PHOTO: UNSPLASH
Work in tracksuit from home
Fashion trendsetters have been posting photos of themselves in lockdown wearing chic tracksuits, which gave a green light for more and more women and men to attend business meetings on Zoom wearing sporty outerwear. Fashion industry analysts have reported that searches for sweatpants and sporting jackets have increased several fold during this pandemic and sales of tracksuits have skyrocketed. In October 2020, online retailer ASOS even announced that the demand for sportswear that it received was greater than what it could produce.
The late Karl Lagerfeld famously quipped: “Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life so you bought some sweatpants.” However, proponents of the tracksuit and venerated authority figures in fashion, such as Vogue’s editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, have been unabashedly posting photos of themselves working from home in sweatpants and trainers.
Today, when a friend or colleague slips into a tracksuit, then jumps from a video conference meeting to a night out on the town, hardly anyone bats an eyelid.
You can take your pick from a wide range of tracksuits when you visit retailers like H&M and New Balance located in Kallang Wave Mall.
