Fitness fashion, now also called athleisure wear, has meanwhile become classy and has long been something for the office. And even the good old jogging pants are making a comeback. Designers and fashion experts explain which rules have to be observed for the modern jogging look. A doormat slogan reads: “At home is where the sweatpants live.” Take off your tights, get out of your pinching suit, into your cozy and cozy trousers: For many, this is the perfect end of the day. Some don’t like it at all. It was a few years ago that Karl Lagerfeld passed his verdict: “If you wear sweatpants, you have lost control of your life.”
Arrived in the fashion world
At the last Berlin Fashion Week , there was a long-standing trend: Designers like Kilian Kerner reinterpret the jogging pants and turn them into hip fashion. In the gyms there are people who value well-groomed clothes and high-tech materials. Sport, office and everyday life mix – the trend is called “athleisure”. Rappers like Kanye West and models like Pamela Reif contribute to the hype about sports fashion . And at Dior, the cashmere training pants cost almost 2000 euros.
Suitable for everyday use?
Are the good old sweatpants, little washed and dented, since only something for the allotment garden or the walk to the waste glass container? Many parents would be happy: In some families, there is hard negotiation as to how often children in jogging pants can go to school each week. A school in Swabia made headlines in 2015 with its house rules: “Appropriate and orderly clothing” is required. A sign against the sloppy look.
So what is the situation with jogging pants in 2019? Berlin fashion entrepreneur Andreas Murkudis doesn’t sound as strict as Lagerfeld. He can’t make friends with the bulging pants on the street, but he likes it cozy at home. He also observes this with customers in his shop, where there are fine jogging pants for 170 euros. “People usually buy it at home.”
Fashion hybrid
Designer Michael Michalsky says: “The sweatpants are the new jeans.” Whether with stripes on the side, with a checked print or in pastel shades, there are no limits to your imagination. “Well styled, the jogging pants are even suitable for the office. For example in combination with a silk blouse and pumps or shirt and jacket. ”
Gerd Müller-Thomkins, the managing director of the German Fashion Institute in Cologne, sees the garment in a great change: “The sweatpants are a thing of the past – if you take into account what used to be understood by them.” It has therefore developed very much, it is a hybrid that combines many things – right up to the luxury variant made of silk, which is good for the red carpet. Müller-Thomkins generally sees the trend towards wide trousers, a lot of influence from sport, a sporty everyday fashion mixed with elegance.
Jogging pants in the change
For the Berlin street style shop “Overkill”, specialist Daniel Kokscht says: “What we definitely notice is the trend away from sloppy pants to tighter variants with cuffs.” Some of the pants are no longer recognizable as jogging pants, but rather like a pair of trousers with a zipper in the crotch, similar to jeans.
Ankle is also often shown in the sneaker scene, as Kokscht explains. Cuffs at the end of the legs are good for that. Then you can see the optical limit better. This could also solve the riddle of why young people love to show bare ankles: the shoe comes into its own better.
Courage to color
When it comes to colors, Kokscht believes that classic gray is over. At the Berlin fashion fair Seek it looked different: There were still various gray models, such as from Fila or Hummel. As for the alleged jogging pants hater from Paris, Kokscht comes up with a suggestion: Lagerfeld teamed up with Puma in 2018 – for a sports collection including jogging pants.
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