Sportswear

A word of American origin that refers to sports clothing, including shoes. Over time, it has also come to describe, more generically, a casual look comprising combined separates, creating a way of dressing that contrasts with the more formal office look worn in the city. Sportswear first infiltrated fashion at the beginning of the 1960s with jeans and all their denim derivatives (from jackets to skirts), and in the following decade when Lacoste, Fred Perry, and Fila ventured into making everyday clothes. The advent of street style has allowed city dwellers to wear puffer jackets and sailing shoes or trainers. It was not until the 1990s, however, that sportswear became haute couture: for example, the volumes and shapes by Helmut Lang, Prada’s experiments with new materials, and Costume National’s couture lines, which are played down by the use of zips.