This Activewear Brand Hates the Term Athleisure and This Is Why
You’ve no doubt been bombarded with the word “athleisure” as of late — the term has become so popular, Merriam-Webster has even added it to its unabridged dictionary. Officially defined as “casual clothing to be worn for both exercising and for general use,” athleisure has everyone from Beyoncé to Tory Burch getting in on the trending clothing category.
Yet there’s one brand that is so NOT on board with the use of the popular slang to define its activewear line: the largely NYC-based Bandier.
Telling Refinery29 that they’d like to ditch the term in favor of “active fashion,” their main reasoning actually makes a lot of sense: “Athleisure” doesn’t connote any physical activity. They have a point — leisure does conjure up a lot of Orange Is the New Black binge-watching seshes in our minds.
“The next generation of consumer is more mobile, works freelance, loves experiences and travels often,” a rep told the outlet. “They want… clothing to meet the needs of their on-the-move lifestyle.”
They’re not all talk, either — their NYC flagship actually features a built-in fitness studio dubbed Studio B, which also encourages its customers to keep active, though for a fee — “Our classes are not free, but that’s really because we wanted to offer the best of the best,” the rep said.
Fair enough, Bandier. Fair enough.
Do you agree with this company’s logic? Let us know over @BritandCo!
(h/t Refinery29, photos via Bandier)