Is the Exercise Dress the Next Athleisure Trend?
Will the exercise dress become the latest trend in athleisure as consumers under stay-at-home orders across the globe work from home and exercise via their laptops? The adidas by HYKE SS20 collection, launched during this season’s SS20 Tokyo fashion week, suggests a totally new and unisex direction for athletic wear.
Featuring a unisex floor-length pleated gown, evoking the silhouette of a toga or a kimono robe, the adidas by HYKE collaboration is a new direction for sporting apparel. This simple yet elegant athletic gown features the HYKE and Adidas logos prominently along a thick adjustable nylon strap reminiscent of a gym duffel bag. Practical, comfortable, and low-maintenance, the unisex garment could catch on with the sartorially inclined who seek an alternative to the sweatsuit.
The collection is the second time the brands have collaborated together. The first collection was aunched five years ago in 2015. Slated for retail release on April 29, 2020, the present offering features strictly apparel and two reinterpretations of Adidas sneakers: the laceless Ultraboot, and the classic Stan Smith tennis shoe. The unisex Ultraboot laceless sneaker, whose unusual design brings to mind the Adidas slipper, references the first Adidas Ultraboot which was released in 2017.
The brand collaboration is ongoing, and like many other fashion brands, HYKE has adapted to the new reality of the global pandemic crisis.To present its latest collection, It moved to a virtual presentation format. In the face of disruptions to Tokyo Fashion Week 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak, Hyke presented its FW2020 runway show online. The Fall/Winter show also included pieces from the Adidas collaboration.
The pieces for FW2020 include “a series of splattered logo tops, elastic-waist pleated skirts and buckled windbreaker-style tops take cues from the Adidas‘ Adventure Series, originally introduced in the ’90s,” according to Hypebae.
Whether the athletic dress catches on as a fashion trend remains to be seen. Perched before their laptop screens, quarantined athletes may start performing their beach body workouts in this toga-inspired gear. What is for sure is that the fashion world will never be the same.
