Edie Campbell modelling Chloé SS16YouTube: Chloé

Once upon a time, way, way back in the dark days of 2004, the tracksuit trend was all the rage. Most notable, perhaps, were the Juicy Couture velour tracksuits which were rife among celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, sparking a frenzy which swept across the globe, captivating women and girls of all ages. At over £100 per set, the Juicy Couture tracksuit seemed like the most covetable trend at the time. Yet, like most crazes in the fashion industry, this quickly subsided, eventually leading to the complete shut down of the firm’s US stores by the end of 2014. Fast-forward to 2016 and the tracksuit appears to have been revived, re-found on the catwalks of many high-end brands, albeit in a far more subtle, understated and wearable manner. Has it come to stay once and for all, or is it going to last just one season?

Just this year, Newsnights Kirsty Wark caused great debate online when spotted wearing a pair of tailored tracksuit-style trousers by the label ME+EM, sparking discussion over whether this was appropriate for professional women, despite the recent rise of this trend. High-end brands such as Alexander Wang and Stella McCartney have quickly popularised the ‘sports luxe’ or ‘athleisure’ trend. Collections inspired by sportswear, such as the Chloe Spring/Summer 2016 and Stella McCartney Pre-Fall 2016 collections, have allowed women to opt for comfortable yet high-quality choices, while remaining put-together and on trend, proving how not only are tracksuits back and better than ever, but also that women are able to conquer any field and industry they please while manipulating fashion to their advantage. No longer is it obligatory for women to confine themselves in suits in order to be taken seriously or considered professional. Now they are free to express their own personal styles in the workplace, in part due to the normalisation of casualwear on the catwalk.

A perfect example of a woman who effortlessly engages in this is Phoebe Philo, creative director of French label, Céline. The English designer was appointed an OBE in 2014 and has previously been voted British Designer of the Year twice by the British Fashion Council. Philo is one of the most respected and highly regarded women in fashion, yet she is also renowned for her minimalistic, casual approach to dressing. She is rarely seen in anything but basic yet refined pieces, accurately demonstrating just how women can be pioneering role models, no matter how they choose to dress.

Another woman who so flawlessly encapsulates this vision of the modern woman is style icon and constant fashion chameleon, Rihanna, who is partial to the ‘athleisure’ trend herself. Earlier this year, Rihanna was spotted in a baby pink Sean John velour tracksuit which was scarily reminiscent of those Juicy Couture days, in addition to an emerald green embroidered two-piece fur-cuffed Gucci tracksuit, from the brand’s Spring 2016 collection, sparking online discussion yet again over the return of the infamous trend. Regardless of your stance on the singer, it is undeniable that Rihanna has heavily influenced the fashion industry to dizzying heights, recently designing her own collection with sports brand Puma. Thus, we are again shown how this trend is domineering the realm of fashion, with some of the world’s most coveted designers and fashionable figures collaborating with sportswear labels to combine high-end with high-street.

@iamnaomicampbell #FENTYxPUMA @carlynecerfdedudzeele

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In the past few years, we have seen Riccardo Tisci (creative director of Givenchy) partnering with Nike and Raf Simons (former creative director of Dior and, now, at Calvin Klein) with Adidas, to produce unique and comfortable pieces which are accessible to all. Perhaps the greatest evidence of the success in this field is Stella McCartney’s long-standing partnership with Adidas, which has led to her designing the kit for Team GB at the Olympics, instantaneously linking fashion with sportswear and confirming its presence in our ever-evolving society.

However, the world of high-end fashion is still capable of transforming a seemingly simple and classic concept, such as the tracksuit, and making it its own. This has been recently proved by French label, Vetements, led by Georgian designer Demna Gvasalia (also current creative director at Balenciaga) and his brother, Guram. The brand recently announced that they would be combining their womenswear and menswear collections from the start of next year to produce just two collections per year, proving just how far the boundaries and standards in fashion are being broken down. Their Autumn/Winter 2016 collection, with no seemingly gender-specific looks, contained several – yep, you guessed it – tracksuit and sportswear-inspired looks, emblazoned with slogans such as  ‘Justin4Ever’, tied in among the unusual silhouettes comprised of over-sized everything, thigh high leather boots and velvet suits (Kirsty Wark, eat your heart out).

So, while several designers have taken it upon themselves to bring their knowledge and expertise of high-end design to the mass market, others, such as the Gvasalia brothers, are taking these classic trends and reinventing them within the niche areas of high fashion. While it appears that we have come a long way from the Juicy Couture days, it is abundantly clear that trends never truly disappear, and fashion is constantly regenerating what seem like outdated ideas so that they never truly die. Although it is interesting to see how certain trends, such as the tracksuit, change and evolve, they also enable us to see how the rules of fashion and society’s opinions on these standards develop simultaneously.