At this point, stylish activewear has well surpassed trend status, securing its spot as a wardrobe category staple. Over the past decade, the number of brands slinging skin-tight leggings and strappy sports bras has skyrocketed, making athleisure a fashion category of its own.
But among the Alos and Lululemons of the world, a new wave of fashionable activewear is emerging. As opposed to the usual post-Pilates brunch apparel, these indie activewear brands are prioritizing performance through technical materials and intentional design that feels aligned with The Row-obsessed shopper. In the age of gorpcore and elevated sportwsear, their style-forward pieces are the perfect blend of form and function.
Ahead, meet the buzzy brands redefining the activewear categories—and the pieces that make them stand out.
For The Artsy Runner: Literary Sport
“We started Literary Sport with the belief that running wear should perform like technical clothing,” said Deirdre Matthews. She and her partner M. Bechara were uninterested in the bright colors and intense obsession with performance for performance’s sake, like the majority of running brands out there. To the two of them, running was less about pushing their bodies to the brink, but rather, taking care of their mental health.
With Literary Sport, they set out “to create a space where function meets feeling, and where technical design supports the inner journey as much as the physical one.” Literary Sport is definitively not an athleisure brand—it’s a running brand. But Matthews acknowledges running is only one part of her self-identity—she’s also a parent, a creative, a reader, a writer. “We wanted to bring the same thoughtfulness and intention we apply to everyday dressing into the world of technical wear—elevating functional silhouettes and performance fabrics by making them feel refined and beautiful.”
For The Stylish Tennis Lover: Spence
Lifelong tennis player Amanda Greeley was frustrated by the lack of modern, stylish gear options when she decided to start Spence in 2018. “When I looked at my drawer of sport clothes at that time, it struck me that my gear for running, yoga was far nicer than what I had for tennis,” she recalled. When she asked her fellow tennis-playing friends where they were shopping, she found that everyone was in the same boat.
Typically, the tennis clothes she was used to “tended to be overly preppy… and often felt more like a tennis costume than something functional and cool.” Enter: Spence, her brand that’s focused on making racquet sports more approachable, more fun, and, well, sexier. To her, tennis is only a part of a rich, fulfilling life—an ethos that Spence emulates both through their creative output and versatile pieces.
For the Pilates Girl Who Works in Fashion: Norba
Norba
In 2018, sisters Olga and Helena Norba brought their fashion background to the wellness world with the launch of their activewear brand, Norba, out of Ukraine. “We both felt there was a gap in the market,” said Helena. "Everything felt either too sporty or too trendy.” So, the two created Norba: their solution to clothing that supports real-life beyond the workout studio.
While it’s not the only brand interweaving femininity and functionality, the combination of their design philosophy and quality-oriented manufacturing practices is what sets Norba apart. “We often describe Norba as dressy activewear—pieces that offer the comfort of sportswear with the polish of ready-to-wear,” said Olga. “It’s activewear that doesn’t feel limited to one moment of your day—and that’s very much by design.”
For the Run Club Devotee: Bandit
It’s hard to walk through downtown Manhattan without seeing a Bandit tank or, at the very least, a hat, these days. Bandit, the Greenpoint-based brand started by brothers Nick and Tim West and Ardith Singh, is raising the bar for running gear with their technical features, like moisture-wicking fabrics and plethora of pockets.
What really sets Bandit apart is not so much its clothing, but its hypebeast-meets-community-centric approach. Taking inspiration from skateboarding and streetwear brands like Supreme, Bandit releases collections in “drops” and organizes its new launches as seasonal campaigns. On the other hand, the brand offers a membership model, where members receive discounts on other wellness-related brands, early access to drops, and two pairs of free socks a year—or, in their words, “the Jeep wink” of running.
For the Gym Class Hero: H-O-R-S-E
H-O-R-S-E
When Sue Williamson was looking for synthetic-free activewear, she realized that loose, easy-feeling, cotton-based workout clothes didn’t really exist in the way they once did in her elementary school gym class. Thus, she created H-O-R-S-E, her salve for the synthetic athleticwear of modern times.
“I'm really inspired by P.E. classes,” says Williamson. “The uniforms, the practical movements that are so good for our bodies, and the idea that movement should be an essential part of our day and not just a competition or viral trend.” In a sea of suffocating sports bras and slinky leggings, H-O-R-S-E stands out for so many reasons. Most notably, though, is their lack of logos. “Not putting the logo on the clothes was really important because we want them to be timeless and classic, and logos can date things,” she says. “I joke that I want these pieces to live in your closet so long that your future kids fight over them.”
