INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA: APPAREL THAT GOES BEYOND UTILITY
Strictly dubbed lines between chic and utilitarian, outfits As activewear trends continue to blur exercise clothes have now become trendy everyday wear
etti.bali@partner.hindustantimes.com on’t have time to change between yoga and a grocery run? Have an e-meet, but that post-yoga nap turned out to be longer than you expected? Fret not, for evolving activewear trends have blurred the line between chic and utilitarian, and what were strictly dubbed exercise clothes are now trendy everyday wear. While the term athleisure isn’t new, it was only in 2016 that it was added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, defined as ‘casual clothing designed to be worn both for exercising and for general use’. Think sports bras paired with button-down shirts, oversized hoodies tucked into leggings or zip-up jackets with yoga shorts.
Innovations in material and textiles, the need to push comfort beyond home and a steady diet of celeb gym culture has given a boost to yogawear labels. As per a study by Statista, Germanybased market and consumer data analysts, the global revenue of the yoga apparel market in 2021 was estimated at around $22.7 billion, poised to grow to around $40 billion by 2028 at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 8.4%. Global resurgence of the street chic aesthetic — paparazzi photos of English model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in leggings from Los Angeles-based brand Alo with a YSL bag as she went for a stroll in New York (US), American model Hailey Bieber in high-waist leggings from the same brand, paired with a baggy crop sweatshirt on a juice run in LA, or actor Vanessa Hudgens ru i
Derrands in California-headquartered activewear brand Fabletics — create similar aspirations for connoisseurs. “The usual pairing of yogawear is to mix it with street style sweaters or elevated sportswear. The global culture trickle down has led us to style ourselves in a lot of designs from celebs,” shares Shruti Nair, marketing and operations manager at HRX.
Fusing celebrity styles with their own, many are now experimenting. “People are no longer just choosing loungewear for gym, they are mindful of looking a certain way,” says Sanjana Masand, founder of Mumbai-based activewear label Seeqactive. The demand for variety in style, silhouette and sensibility compelled home-grown brands to reinvent. “What you’d mostly get were blacks and greys; we wanted to bring freshness and elevate those looks. Internationally, there is a trend of adopting yogawear into resort wear or creating everyday looks with it,” says Dhriti Badani of Mumbai-based activewear label Silvertraq, which has retained a distinctly Indian aesthetic by using shibori prints and tie-and-dye.
The Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 also propelled the rise of home-grown activewear labels. The post-lockdown adaptability of yoga clothes is what catapulted Delhi-based loungewear label uNidraa into diverting their efforts to yogawear. “People started styling nightsuits as co-ord sets. The demand definitely went up in that period,” opines Anu Beri, its founder.