Fashion at leisure!

Activewear as a fashion concept has become more and more common over the past few years and is slowly replacing denim as the go-to for everyday casual looks for both women and men. Today, athleisure is a most favoured choice for many millennials - be it is hitting the gym or grabbing the groceries, casual outing or just meeting friends for coffee, activewear is absolutely one of the most versatile, comfortable and common trends we are seeing these days. It translates effortlessly from gym-wear into streetwear.

New brands in the activewear are blurring the line between workout and your everyday wardrobe and yoga pants pass off as 'business casuals'. Activewear along the line Lycra and spandex stretched its way into our everyday wardrobes. This segment gained acceptance and took the market by storm. Many brands have included athleisure collections and numerous new brand entrants have emerged in the market, monitoring this consumer shift. Many people have become conscious to lead a healthy lifestyle, travel and go on adventure trips and this has started to evolve into a culture. While the paparazzi is busy clicking celebrities in and out of gyms, the athleisure market has grown into sizeable chunk in the fashion market.

Some of the activewear companies like Patagonia and D+K are leading the ethical fashion charge as there are fashion industry’s damaging effects overall, but if the rest of the industry doesn’t catch up with limiting the damage, then it simply won’t be enough. Many other companies or brands will have to enter the market and we also need to see more designers outside of the activewear category implementing innovative production techniques and using recycled fibres wherever possible as well. Closer to home, brands like Stretchery and Athlos are working to bring sustainable athleisure that’s indigenous yet global in appeal in organic cotton and bamboo fibres.

Since the athleisure wear industry is populating with multiple players with celebrity endorsements like Sonam Kapoor for RHESON, or Hrithik Roshan for HRX, it is time to take an innovative approach to stand out in the crowd. Being fitness oriented is the first step towards leading a mindful lifestyle. Bringing an organic athleisure material can uplift the fitness enthusiasts to take a next step towards being mindful about surroundings and nature.

Today Nylon, Lycra and Polyester are the fabrics that are widely used by most of the activewear brands, and one can break this monotony with a line of natural fabrics and dyes. Non-GMO-organic cotton, wool, and bamboo are the raw materials chosen by a few sustainable brands to fabricate athleisure apparel and stand-out in the sportswear segment. Most of the time the apparel sticks to one's skin while working out and it is essential that the garment is breathable and natural fabric aids in this. Tell us what are your favourite athleisure brands by tagging @deepikasarode and @thehansindia #THIathleisure.

Deepika Sarode -The writer is the founder of PikaLove, a sustainable fashion brand.