AN OLYMPIC cast walked down the runway in Paris at the Off-White SS19 show, juxtaposing chic and sports, refined materials against athletic apparel. In collaboration with Nike, this collection elevates athleisure into the ranks of luxury.
Off-White assembled a whole of an Olympic team as their models: British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, track and field star Katarina Johnson-Thompson, high jumpers Vashti Cunningham, Cecilia Yeung and Caterine Ibargüen, 100m dash champion English Gardner, Belgium’s multi-event athlete Nafissatou Thiam, and the French runner Rénelle Lamote.
Virgil Abloh’s concept of crashing the femininity against the sports produced a fascinating combination of outfits: laced up heels with the screaming Off What logo around them, track-and-field leggings beneath a leather jacket, or a white jersey over a pompous skirt. The collaboration with Nike created a sports-couture collection, daring the casual to become exotic.
The washed denim and leather jackets ground the collection back to reality, balancing the ultra-modern shapes and audacious colours. With glaring yellow snakeskin details and neon yellow head-to-toe looks, it seems that the outfits were not designed with a purpose of being worn but rather to make a strong statement about the modern lifestyle – the obsession with athleisure.
By being unconventional and progressive, taking a glimpse into the future and contrasting it with the traditional, Off-White challenges the concept of fashion and stretches its boundaries. When a luxury brand brings sports onto the runway, one can only wonder what the future holds for the fashion world.
by Olga Kuznietsova