FASHION : Fitness Chic Hits Its Stride in Stripes
Maybe it’s a reaction to the frivolity of high fashion. Or perhaps it relates to the dress-down, comfort-first attitude of the ‘90s. Call it a response to the popular fixation with physical fitness--which is not going away anytime soon.
Whatever the reason, tennis skirts, sneakers, workout leggings and sports bras are no longer being left court-side or at the gym. They are sliding into wardrobes and showing up at nightclubs and dinner parties as designers, from couture to street wear, stripe their collections and sprint full force into ’94 with locker chic.
It seems no designer is sitting out this trend. Renditions of the real thing hit the stores in fabrics fit for exercise, and others--like sparkling sequins or itchy vintage polyester--that only seem real amusing.
Even accessories such as solid headbands, white ankle socks, multifunction watches and streamlined backpacks (instead of shoulder bags) are becoming required equipment.
Sneakers, which have become as standard in everyone’s wardrobe as underwear, are de rigueur to the uniform, whether they’re canvas or velvet. High-tech super shoes will do, but the winners are simple, retro models such as Gazelles and Rod Lavers from Adidas or Puma’s Suedes and Clydes.
There were indicators to the eventual rise of this latest game with active wear: Urban divas and dudes have long played with clothes originally reserved for cycling, hiking and even scuba diving (remember that neoprene Body Glove club wear a few years back?). And let’s not forget the ubiquitous head gear of the decade--the baseball cap.
This time around, the obvious influence in the deluge of fashionable fitness-inspired gear is Adidas, whose side-striped exercise suits and athletic shoes, as well as anything with the trefoil logo, have long been staples of hip-hop culture.
Recall Run DMC’s 1983 ode “My Adidas” as well as the rap trio’s penchant for anything by the international athletic wear company. Counterculture’s ongoing plunder of anything retro has led it past the disco-and-bell-bottom part of the ‘70s (which became mainstream last year) to that decade’s “old school” mode, which includes everything from the rap of Grand Master Flash to the animated TV series “Fat Albert.”
Adidas style has made such an impact among the new generation that the company has had to play legal hardball to prevent its legendary trefoil logo from being altered into a marijuana leaf and screened onto T-shirts and ball caps.
John Fread, a spokesman for Portland-based Adidas America, attributes the label’s long-standing appeal to its “no-hype attitude,” which is very much in line with ‘90s sentiment. “There’s a real simplicity in Adidas design. Consumers are looking for the same comfort they get (in what they wear) playing basketball or working out at the gym as dancing at a nightclub. Fashion is just responding to this lifestyle attitude.”
Designer Laura Whitcomb sees the trend as part of a larger “sensibility of the ‘90s which is eliminating the hierarchy in fashion. For the first time we’re seeing street wear merging with couture quality fashion that can be worn to a party or some other event.”
Whitcomb’s take on the look, complete with an officially licensed Adidas trefoil logo, has been spotted on Madonna, Wynona Ryder and model Naomi Campbell at splashy forums such as the MTV and Academy awards.
Although the collection has expanded to include a range of striped wear, the $300 dress remains among the most sought-after. Whitcomb says recent trade shows pulled in more than 20,000 orders for the dress, although considerably fewer will actually be shipped. “We want to keep it limited,” she says.
The New York-based designer contrived the dress three years ago as a fashion stylist putting together a spread on designer gowns that incorporated athletic wear motifs. “The Adidas one came out best,” she recalls.
She resurrected the style last year under her collection, Label, sponsored by hip-hop hit maker Tommy Boy records. “I didn’t think ‘90s fashion offered anything that was signature of the decade.” Performance-oriented fashion that reveals being physically fit is the answer, she adds. “It’s what people will see as something truly from the ‘90s.”
And even though this truly ‘90s trend is rooted in hip-hop culture of the ‘70s, it’s the fact that fashion pundits are taking it to another level with greater style, better fabrics and innovative silhouette applications that is giving it its modern identity.
“It’s taking the whole Adidas look, but using that idea creatively,” says designer Julia (Joolz) Andersen of Fusion in Los Angeles. Fusion released a complete line of striped gear: leggings, hot pants, skirts (both ankle length and barely covering) and a long hooded dress.
Like many young street-wear companies, Fusion was among the first to market the look early last year, responding to counterculture interest in vintage athletic wear.
Andersen and her peers at other street-wear labels see the higher-priced “knock-offs” by the likes of everyone from Donna Karan to Chanel as a boost to their lines, with most items priced under $80. “We know every little girl in America is going to want it next season when it hits the malls,” says Andersen, who is already considering a sports stripe for Fusion’s menswear line for summer.
For several seasons now, Los Angeles-based lines Pleasure Swell and Mondorama have been striping jackets, shirts, tees and hats in their menswear collections with bars that evoke auto racing more than track. But the message is the same, say the designers.
“Stripes are clean,” notes Mondorama’s David Miller. “They act as a finish that accentuates, be it the body or the flow of a silhouette.”
Even with the eventual saturation of this trend, Label’s Whitcomb predicts the look will “carry on for several seasons.”
After all, if fashion in the ‘90s is about being fit, these clothes represent vitality and health of mind and body. Dressing the part could at least set you in that frame of mind.
Even greater is the “marriage between function and style,” says Joel Fitzpatrick, designer and co-owner of L.A.-based Pleasure Swell. “Part of the birth of urban street wear is this marriage, with comfort playing a big part of that.”
