Putting a stylish spin on luxury codes to reinvent sporting fashion, Off-White and Vivienne Westwood’s shows reaffirmed physical activity as a creative tool for liberating and controlling your body, the polar opposite of the tyranny of thinness traditionally conveyed.

Off-White: the height of couture sport

The new fashion messiah, Virgil Abloh revealed a new Off-White collection with a contagious energy on 28 September. This new spring/summer offering presented an athleisure wardrobe in dynamic lines, certain items of which were designed in collaboration with the invincible kit supplier Nike. We could spot Kaia Gerber, the supermodel of the season and the worthy offspring of Cindy Crawford, walking the runway in an immaculate dress made of a technical fabric that could well become the collection’s best-seller.

Unless it is seriously challenged by the label’s new star sneaker known as the “Waffle Racer” because of its accented studs, or the asymmetric tutu that we can easily imagine in Serena Williams’ wardrobe. Mixing couture codes and sportswear inspirations, this line also offers cycling shorts juxtaposed with a jacket reminiscent of the Bar suit, a bum-bag in aluminium tones, along with a highly desirable logoed sports bra. Pieces to make us rethink and revise our usual view of ready-to-wear.

Vivienne Westwood: crazy sportswear

In a more extravagant register, Vivienne Westwood also borrowed from the sporting world during Fashion Week, or at least its values. Strength, power and self-assertiveness were the watchwords that inspired Andreas Kronthaler, the house’s creative director, for this spring/summer 2019 collection. Showcasing professional skateboarders and bodybuilders, among other things the show presented body-clinging underwear created in collaboration with Yasmine Eslami, skirts and dresses featuring an equestrian print, asymmetrically sized Bermuda shorts in parachute fabric, colourful long sports socks and neo-futuristic trainers.

A clashing blend of sportswear clothing, as seen through the eyes of the eccentric British label, which the designer unhesitatingly mixed with cheerfully bucolic pieces. Or when sportswear becomes a luxury item just like any other.