Brand collaborations in the fashion and luxury world seem to be almost the order of the month in recent years, and now the patterns point in a specific direction: sports. More and more collaborations between big fashion houses and sports brands are bringing ‘luxury’ comfort into vogue.
Here are some leading colabs:
Gucci x Palace
Last month Gucci once again challenged itself by embracing the skater community. Through its partnership with Palace, the Florentine brand wanted to broaden its audience by reaching out to the streetwear language. The collection includes for the first time for Palace also women’s clothing, from leather biker suits bearing two panthers, to t-shirts inspired instead by the football industry, to ‘logoed’ bikinis. On each piece the logos of the two brands are intertwined, Palace’s Tri-Ferg thus joining Gucci’s iconic double G.
Prada x Adidas
Among the brands that have opened the dances of collaborations with sports brand Adidas is Prada, which created the adidas Superstar model in 2019, sparking a success that has led the two brands to go for a second round in January 2022. In fact, in addition to sneakers, Miuccia’s fashion house included clothing items, accessories, and bags for the first time using the recyclable fabric Re-Nylon.
Gucci x Adidas
Soon after, Gucci also followed suit by bringing Adidas to the scene. Uniting the two brands was the three-stripe motif with the famous triple side stripe for the sports brand and the Web ribbon created by the luxury brand to embellish bags. A communion of different universes, but perhaps not so distant. Jogger pants, sweaters, sweatshirts, bucket hats, sneakers, in short there are countless products born from this contamination, with which Alessandro Michele has overturned the canons of the word luxury, making it ‘sporty’.
Roksanda x Fila
In February the colorful Roksanda signed a partnership with Fila presenting maxi puffer jackets and cloud down jackets. The collection represents the combination of Fila’s technicality and Roksanda’s ‘architectural’ and ‘over’ shapes, fusing sporty style with female empowerment. On the runway vibrant colors surrounded the models proposing a comfy-cool look.
Michael Kors x Ellesse
Also taking the sportswear field was Micheal Kors, choosing Italian tennis brand Ellesse to create a collaboration. The line consists of 24 pieces that offer a glamorous-chic style, combining the Mk logo and the ‘half’ tennis ball with stylized Ellesse skis. In short, the orange, red, blue and white colors of the Italian brand dress up the items of the American fashion house proposing jackets, crop-tops and a one-piece swimsuit with allover print.
Jacquemus x Nike
Jacquemus, Simon Porte’s brand that has debuted on the international scene over the past decade amid fields of lavender in Provence and crystal clear water in Hawaii, has chosen Nike instead, for its first sportswear collaboration. Maintaining its minimalist style with neutral colors between beige and chocolate, Jacquemus chose the end of June to offer a line of 15 pieces, including the iconic Nike Air Humata, a dress with a cut-out neckline on the back, among which the Nike symbol shines, and a pleated skirt that recalls a tennis uniform.
Balenciaga x Adidas
In a roundabout way, Balenciaga also liked the idea of invading streetwear, so much so that it made a partnership with Adidas. Surely you know, Demna’s brand has always winked at sports, but it had never stated it explicitly. Well with Adidas, it has shouted it out loud, but not in the usual tone. In fact, the Adidas x Balenciaga colab sees voluminous silhouettes in dark colors, tiny logos and more three-stripe logos, while also bringing a hint of seduction to the runway with latex masks and gloves and layered dresses. The collection consists of 33 pieces with “logoed” tracksuits, mock soccer jerseys and Balenciaga’s renowned sneakers.
Touching the world of sports more and less recently have been many others. For example, the Karl Lagerfeld brand a few weeks ago jumped on roller skates, launching a collaboration with Impala skates, on which the KL monogram was printed on a black background and glitter wheels. And in the world of soccer among the major collaborations have emerged Zegna with the Real Madrid team, Fendi x As Roma and Armani for the Italian national soccer team.
Balenciaga x Supreme (?)
And fresh news today, we may soon see another totally (or almost) unexpected collaboration. It seems, according to some rumors, that Balenciaga and Supreme are courting each other to sign a new parntership together. In fact, already during Balenciaga’s Spring 2023, a t-shirt had emerged depicting a red-colored logo box, which undoubtedly referred to the Supreme brand. In short, we just have to wait!
In short, athleisure seems to have changed its face, abandoning retro, feminine silhouettes and embracing the ’90s tracksuit. So by riding the ‘sporty’ luxury trend, have these maisons given the push needed to feel more ‘comfy’?
How about you? What do you think of these collaborations?
by Giorgia Dallasio
21th November, 2022
