Stella McCartney’s Spring 2012 collection. Photo by Flickr.
Fashion is about to hit a home run. Or, if you will, a slam-dunk or hole-in-one; whatever sports lingo you fancy, the Spring 2012 collections did foreshadow a new sportif way of dressing this season — suggesting a more practical and wearable approach to fashion is on the horizon. Well, at least it seems practical enough (high fashion never truly is).

Designers kept to high-end fabrics and finishes this spring, like silks and coated nylons, but paired them with more athletic finishes and shapes; Isabel Marant did numbered football jerseys paired with silk drawstring track pants, Stella McCartney played with mesh detailing, 3.1 Phillip Lim had sweaters styled around the waist of tailored skirts — more polo match than rugby match, if anything. Other collections took a less literal, though still lingering, approach to the trend; MaxMara with baseball jackets in aqua blue and Victoria Beckham with bold colour-blocking stripes on her signature form-fitting silhouettes.

Although these designer looks seem sensible enough, their prices a different story, I doubt anyone will actually play ball in silk paisley pants or tailored striped dresses. Unless you’re Maria Sharapova or Sean Avery perhaps — two athletes who have dabbled in the world of fashion; Sharapova a front row Fashion Week staple and Avery a former intern at Men’s Vogue.

This rise in sports dressing is a long time coming, too. When compared to last year’s spring collections, which offered a slew of minimalistic white looks à la Alexander Wang and pajama-chic dressing by Michael Kors, designers foreshadowed a new emphasis on the bare basics and function of fashion. Now, workaday sportswear has burst onto the scene with a twist.

“The sporty look has taken its inspiration from the high colour impact seen in the athletic world, from saturated primary colours to true neon,” says Barbara Atkin, vice president of fashion direction at Holt Renfrew. “Stretch lycra and neoprene fabrications, mesh details, zippers, cargo pockets… are all showing up strongly in many of spring’s collections.”

“What I loved about Stella McCartney is she took elements of sport and mixed it with her own sort of aesthetic, which is very girly, feminine, and sophisticated,” said Derick Chetty, fashion journalist at the Toronto Star. “There was one dress that was paisley and had all these curly-Q embroideries on it, but interspersed with sport mesh. That was something that I hadn’t seen before.”

The revival of sportswear doesn’t just flatline on a design level either. Although fashion is stepping up to the plate, drawing artistic inspiration from the competitive courts, designers have also taken it upon themselves to, literally, enter the world of sports and participate in it as well. Designer collaborations have emerged with more utilitarian sportswear brands, such as the Jeremy Scott for Adidas collaboration, which offers a limited edition collection of sneakers and sports gear designed by the kooky visionary himself. The upcoming London 2012 Olympic Games have also inspired designers to create specifically for sports use; Stella McCartney just unveiled her designs for the British team’s Olympic uniform, a Union Jack-inspired spandex number of sorts, while Ralph Lauren is designing for the United States team and Giorgio Armani for the Italians.

Stella McCartney’s Olympic designs
You can now sweat in style.

This mix of fashion and sport is not exactly new, designers have been dabbling in sports for years now, but the fact that designers are increasingly fighting to participate in this athletic bandwagon is. Why now – is fashion becoming so tired of itself that it must turn to its complete opposite?

“It’s very easy to take in the sporty trend because fashion has always been fascinated with sports. The two share a lot,” said Chetty. “Sport has to do with the body, it’s very sexy and form fitting — those are all signatures that fashion also loves.”

“When a major retailer gets a designer to do sportswear, it also helps move goods because retailers are hoping to sell that stuff. They’re hoping to inject a little bit of fashion into it and hoping it’s going to appeal to a broader section of the market.”

The move to push sportswear is making its way to Canada as well. Thomas Tait, Ezra Constantine, and Danielle Martin and Pao Lim — the design duo behind Montreal label Martin Lim — have all specifically brought sportswear-inspired collections into the Canadian market. And not just for spring, either.

“For fall 2012, we are seeing the sport trend moving into a different sport – that of the equestrian rider with fitted redingotes with fit and flare silhouettes, multi double-breasted buttons, scarf blouses,” said Atkin. 

Martin Lim’s latest fall collection, which continued the sports trend, took cue from sporty fabrics and juxtaposed it with 1960s colour blocking and silhouettes, creating a downtown-sporty-chic look that brings you from day to evening.

“What’s interesting now in terms of the sports trend is that it’s more about the lifestyle,” said Lim. “Sports are really integrated into the lifestyle of people. They go to the gym in the morning or after work, they even wear sportswear to work. So now sports companies are doing ready-to-wear and couture is doing sports; it’s becoming more of a mix now.“

“It’s very important to us to make clothing that women can wear, but at the same time, it has to have a certain statement to it as well. That was our main focus for this season.”

Martin Lim’s Fall 2012 collection. Photo by George Pimentel
So how do you pull off the trend?

Although slouchy trousers in a sweat material, or dresses made of mesh, seem easy enough, the sporty trend is not so easily achieved without looking like a linebacker. So like any other fashion image, from the girly girl to rocker girl, the key is all in the moderation.

“If you have a turtleneck that is graphic and a little more sporty, wear it with a skirt that is more fancy and modern,” said Martin. “It’s very versatile – you can wear it with something sporty or dressy and it’s still very 2012 now.” Lim adds that it “depends on the silhouette between shape and sport.”

“The best way to wear a sport look is with urban polish. Wear your urban parka over a sleek sheath dress with a high heel,” says Atkin. “Fashion is all about the juxtaposition of something sporty with something urban and polished. Don’t look like you’re going to the gym, rather take the inspiration and make it acceptable for business casual and chic weekends.”  

Chetty says not to take the trend so literally either.

“If you’re buying a Stella McCartney dress, you’re not exactly going to a ball game in that. You’re most likely going to be wearing that dress with a jacket over it to the office. You still want it to look polished and professional,” says Chetty. “Take for instance the baseball jacket trend for men, which was a huge thing last summer. So many designers did it in so many different incarnations, from leather mixed with wool to cashmere. Even an Alexander McQueen one had a little bit of gold at the cuffs and the neck, which makes it a jacket that you’re not going on any sort of baseball field in. It’s a little too glamorous. That’s the interesting thing about the sports trend – they’ve glamourized it.”

Indeed the art of sportswear has been glamourized; a mesh Stella McCartney dress can cost you over four grand, while silk pants by 3.1 Phillip Lim are yours for a cool $600. These aren’t exactly prices you want to be mud sliding down the field in. But to simply do sensible designer sportswear isn’t enough anymore, says Chetty — it must, and should, have that sleek fashion touch (and price) in order for consumers to buy it and want it. 

“Nobody wants a basic track pant from a designer. You’re an idiot if you buy basic grey track pants for loads of money, especially if it’s just in some sort of sweat fabric. There’s no need for that because so many people can buy it for pennies at Joe Fresh,” said Chetty. “If you’re going to indulge in the sports trend, people want something more sophisticated and something with an edge to it.” 

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