Are You Game?

In 2012, when Stella McCartney revealed her Olympic gear for the British team, a collaboration with Adidas that produced nearly 600 different pieces, the collection made international headlines and McCartney was crowned Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards. Since the inception of sport, fashion has played a center role—in high performance sport, new textiles and cuts can sometimes make the difference between a first and second place finish. And, for nearly over a century, “activewear” has also found a welcome place inside our closets—whether or not we have a gym membership.

As we delve into the relationship with sportswear in fashion this week, we reflect on that singular French woman who was a pioneer in making sportswear an integral way of dressing: Mademoiselle Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.

While American designer, John Redfern, tailored garments for sportswomen in the 1870s, they were eventually adopted by his clients as everyday wear. He was perhaps, thus, the original sportswear designer. But it was Coco who designed sport clothes, with the specific purpose of being worn by women in the street and not necessarily while on a tennis court or on the back of horse. Following her lead, iconic designers Elsa Schiaparelli and Jean Patou also designed high-end sportswear, fueling a veritable wardrobe revolution.

Today, the term “sportswear” (which really only came about in the 1920s) describes comfortable and relaxed casual wear. As women’s roles in society changed, a need for separates to match the ever-quickening pace of their contemporary lifestyles was created and streamlined skirts, blouses, shorts, and trousers became women’s go-to basics. Clothes’ fabrics also needed to be easily cared for and textiles such as jersey, as introduced by Chanel, became as common as cotton.

American women flocked to the new designs and thus American designers of sportswear such as Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Kenneth Kole, Alexander Wang, and Perry Ellis flourished. Today, sportswear is considered by some to be America’s greatest contribution to the fashion industry. In the mid-seventies, Italian designers such as Emilio Pucci and Miuccia Prada, reminded us that sportswear can also be luxurious by integrating the flexible American styles made for “real living” with high-end fabrics.

Sportswear in fashion proves to be some of the chicest clothing because it is so wearable. When a woman feels great in her clothes, she radiates from within, stands a little taller, and moves with elevated confidence—all ingredients that Mademoiselle Chanel understood were founding elements of the essence of chic. Vive le sport!