FASHION

Work Out, Wear Out

3 new activewear designers to watch.


Tracksmith
1

Tracksmith

A former member of the Yale University track team and marketing head at Puma, Tracksmith founder Matt Taylor created his line of collegiate-inspired separates out of a genuine respect for what he calls, “the culture of running.” “The bold diagonal stripe on our singlets is influenced by the sashing ceremony of Cornell University’s track team dating back to the late 1800s,” he explains. When he couldn’t find that perfect vintage cotton running tee you’d see in 1960s track team photos, Taylor started Tracksmith with a men’s collection last summer, followed by a women’s line this Spring. He has even invented his own material he calls “varsity cotton”— which boasts a perfect cotton-to-rayon ratio, integral to the runner’s performance. “I saw an opportunity to do something different, to create high quality products that celebrate the legacy of the sport.”

2

Ward Whillas

While Alicia Whillas and Rosie Ward Densen had been talking about starting a label together since they were teenagers, they waited until after they had gotten their feet wet (ready-to-wear at Marc Jacobs and The Row, respectively), to combine forces in a line of high fashion, high performance swimwear. “We noticed a lack of innovation in the fashion swim category and saw the opportunity to merge advanced technology used in high-performance active-wear with the aesthetic sensibilities of high-fashion swimwear,” explains Ward Densen. “Our vision goes far beyond the perfect swimsuit,” adds Whillas. Their crisp, versatile swim separates are made from a quick drying, technical Italian fabric and utilize heat-sealed bonding technology so that they can honestly say that style and performance blend seamlessly.

3

ADAY

When best friends Meg He and Nina Faulhaber traded in their desk jobs at Goldman Sachs in 2014 for Stanford business school and a course in Sportswear Design at Central Saint Martins College respectively, they realized their paths hadn’t diverged as far as they had first thought. In San Francisco, Meg started actively participating in outdoor athletics; meanwhile Nina, a former competitive gymnast, was having trouble finding active wear that could make the transition from class to the gym to the street. “We wanted to create a line that kept up with our active, on-demand and spontaneous lifestyles,” explains Meg. Thus, ADAY was born, their line of lightweight, metallic ready-to-wear inspired separates that go basically wherever you need them to.