sportstyle

DESIGN / PERFORMANCE CASUAL is e-commerce. As online sales boomed exponentially during Covid, brands increasingly relied on fabrics to differentiate their product lines. Marketers seized on the fact that when selling clothing that you can't touch or try on, the best way to engage your digital audience is via discourse on the unique performance and compelling aesthetic features of the textile. e era of wardrobe casualization, where functional is casual and casual is functional, has arrived, tailored to fit our blurred world of 2022. Both Sides Now: A Design Perspective Adrienne Mercante's career as a creative apparel designer has focused on men's hybrid apparel, with performance infused in traditional men's wear silhouettes, and more recently, with a true outdoor focus, as head apparel designer at California brand Nathan Sports. Having experienced both sides of the performance x lifestyle equation gives Mercante perspective on today's trends. Working for Outlier during the brand's formative years laid the foundation for Mercante's design approach. At Outlier, when faced with the problem of what to wear to ride your bike to work for a meeting and still look professional, the team turned to fabric featured at Outdoor Retailer. Outlier utilized these performance materials discovered at the show for apparel designed and developed for commuting. "We were sourcing for what was intended for one thing, and using it for another, in a new way," recalls Mercante. "e basis of that idea was one garment that can do many things." Other factors elevated this concept. "e pandemic was a perfect storm," explains Mercante, who cites examples such as people not wanting to dress up for work from home; rising prices; pushback on fast fashion from some sectors; and a growing emphasis on sustainability. "Now there's more talk about properties that offer versatility and comfort to promote value, and differentiate product from others." Mercante came aboard Nathan Sports in 2021 soon aer the company's initial apparel launch. Spring '22 is her first season at the helm, refreshing the line and incorporating a tiered approach for women's and men's product collections. According to Mercante, customers are adopting the top tier; fabrics feature 4-way stretch, ultra-lightweight fabric with wicking and quick dry properties. e Frontrunner short, with an extra coverage liner and lots of pockets, along with the Dash T-shirt are popular. "It's the soest run shirt," says Mercante of the 125gsm nylon/poly/spandex "tri-dri" fabric top. "It performs as a tech tee, but doesn't feel like one." From Outdoor to Outside: New Attitude For many who have attended Outdoor Retailer for decades, the Summer '22 trade show held in Denver signaled the new direction of the marketplace. e changeover from outdoor to outside was complete. What not to wear in the past while hiking, climbing, backpacking, i.e., lifestyle cotton t-shirts, yoga pants, and jeans, is now the uniform adopted by today's "outsiders." e move back to Utah, where OR will take up residence in January 2023, and include a new consumer Expo, reflects this trend. According to statistics from the June show, nearly 30 percent of the booths on the show floor were new exhibitors. e old-guard big businesses who led the charge for the show to exit Utah for political reasons around public lands, and once held court on the convention floor, are now giving way on the show floor to young companies with a contemporary take on outdoor recreation. Meanwhile, retail sales of core outdoor products, apparel, footwear equipment and accessories, totaled $28.B in the 12 months leading up to March 2022, a growth spurt of $6.8B in two years, e NPD Group reports. e market research firm offered this takeaway during its morning Outdoor Retailer seminar in Denver: e outdoor industry is a retail bright spot, however focus leans toward backyard lifestyle, with lifestyle goods surging while equipment sales are declining. Men's Dash tee from Nathan Sports features a triblend fabric that feels soft, yet performs like a technical top. 38 • September/October 2022 sportstyle • sportstylemag.com

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