A worldwide trend

For years now, the lines between sports and fashion have been blurring with sportswear dominating fashion trends, sneaker culture going full mainstream, and the Covid-19 pandemic further bridging the gap as designers and brands sought to respond to the demand for more comfortable everyday wear.

It was no longer just celebrities like Beyoncé and Kanye West releasing lines with the like of Adidas and Adidas; luxury brands like Gucci have also collaborated with these traditionally activewear labels, including on the runway — as perhaps most epitomised by 2022’s Adidas x Gucci line — giving rise to ‘sports luxe’ as also seen with Grace Wales Bonner’s acclaimed take on traditional sportswear in collaboration with the three-stripes brand.

Big team-ups

At the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, we saw major fashion brands creating hi-tech uniforms for athletes and capsule collections for fans. Team USA was outfitted in Ralph Lauren, while Kim Kardashian’s Skims brand sponsored the team’s lounge and sleepwear. Team Canada inked a multiyear partnership with Lululemon, Ben Sherman created the uniform for Team Britain and Uniqlo dressed Team Sweden. Back in Tokyo in 2020, Telfar made a unisex uniform for Liberia.

As recently as last week Monday, perhaps the biggest move in the marriage between sports and fashion came in the form of an announcement that LVMH, the French luxury conglomerate, has inked a blockbuster deal, becoming a premium partner for next year’s Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“Paris 2024 will entrust several essential roles to artisans from the LVMH Group,” the home of Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Kenzo and Chaumet, the jeweller set to design the Olympic medals, said in a statement issued July 24.

They further said that as part of the partnership, LVMH will extend its commitments to society through sports, supporting programmes that facilitate access to sports for children and young people aged 4-25, who live in vulnerable situations.

In another development, the US’s Major League Soccer tapped streetwear designer Guillermo Andrade to be its creative adviser, “hoping his cultural cache will make the sport more popular in the US”, according to Business of Fashion (BOF).

Beyond the track and field

Of course, many athletes today, including F1 driver Lewis Hamilton, can comfortably be named among the world’s most recognisable fashion icons and I bet we need not discuss Michael Jordan’s impact on streetwear. Outside these examples, sports organisations like the NBA have collaborated with Louis Vuitton, Canada Goose and Kid Super over the years, and in a bid to grow merchandising revenues, fashion tie-ups seem to be the most logical avenue for the likes of Britain’s Basketball League. Now, our very own Orlando Pirates seems to be going the same route.

These kinds of collaborations are a no-brainer as both sports and fashion stand to benefit from the engagement with new audiences.