Haute sportive: how Off-White has given gym kit a high fashion overhaul

From a catwalk in Paris to the treadmill, superbrand Off-White has given gym kit a high fashion overhaul, says Emma McCarthy
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Emma McCarthy1 October 2018

Even for the most stylish fitness fan, the catwalk was never an obvious place to go looking for gym kit inspiration.

Dressing disrupter Virgil Abloh has changed that. Certainly, his hype beast of a label, Off-White, has transplanted sportswear into a high fashion setting and transformed our kit bags forever. At his latest catwalk show on Thursday night the creative director looked to emphasise the link between the two worlds with a collaboration with Nike which is by all accounts Olympic standard.

“Sport, like fashion, shares a common language that seeks to unite cultures, break down barriers and celebrate the power of the human spirit,” said the designer and long-time consultant to Kanye West, who was also the mastermind behind the now infamous tutu tennis dress Serena Williams wore for her US Open comeback.

Let’s be clear, though: if you snap up this collection in its entirety when it reaches stores in January there are no guarantees of a Grand Slam title. But you will seriously up your gym selfie game. Here’s the cheat sheet.

Head-to-toe neon

British Olympic Athletes walk for Off-White - In pictures

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If your workout vibe is more stealth sweater than Pilates peacock, you’re not going to be into head-to-toe neon. But Abloh is. And for those who like to be noticed on the treadmill the fluoro yellow unitard worn by Asher-Smith is the thing to do it in.

Gym snakeskin

Gym gear got a animal print update at Off-White
AFP/Getty Images

From puffa jackets and hoodies to running belts, there is a whole lot of snakeskin-print in Off-White’s Nike and all of it worth shouting about. Did I mention it was also neon?

White leggings

White leggings with Nike ticks take to the catwalk
AFP/Getty Images

I know, right? If leggings weren’t unforgiving enough, now they have to be white? But trust us — after one lap around the park in Abloh’s box-fresh running leggings, you’ll never go back to black. NB: option B, neon snakeskin (see above).

Embrace the exercise dress

model wears tulle dress backstage
Getty Images

If unitards aren’t your thing, how about an exercise dress? Not just for the tennis court, Abloh proposed styles crafted from technical fabrics as an antidote to the capital’s collective workout-wear rut. He also put multi-tiered ballgowns into the mix but it might be best to leave the tulle to Serena Williams.

Clever kicks

Abloh has already done trainers for Nike after he was tapped to reconstruct 10 icons — from the Air Jordan 1 to Air Max 90 — in a collaboration that sold out faster than you can say “on your starting blocks”. For his next trick, they had to be smart. “They have this function in the soles, so they tell you how far you’ve run,” the designer told Vogue of his Nike Waffle Racer running shoes. “When the studs start to wear down it’s 10 miles, 30 to the next layer, 75 to the next.” Sorry, Fitbit, your time is up.

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