Running's big fashion opportunity
If you've recently started running, the hardest part may have been deciding what kit to buy.
Options for running apparel are so plentiful that a cottage industry of online directories, Instagram mood boards and sub-Reddits have sprung up to help would-be joggers and marathoners make sense of it all.
Performance sneakers boasting carbon plates (a technical innovation in the shoe's mid-sole designed to help energy return to the runner) or lightweight materials now come with sneakerhead-coded collaborations and colorways that sell out online. Boutiques, including Distance in Paris and Renegade in Oakland, California target fashion-conscious runners. Even Brooks, a brand traditionally focused on performance, recently announced it would launch its first lifestyle sneaker in March with the streetwear and sneaker collaboration pioneer Jeff Staple.
Fashion's incursion into the running world comes as the sport's popularity is surging. A record number of people participated in marathons last year. Participation in running clubs shot up 59% globally in 2024, according to the fitness app Strava. In major cities such as New York, the growth of run clubs have been fueled by urbanites looking for matchmaking opportunities beyond dating apps or IRL relationships outside of social media. The viral rise of run clubs, which exist for casual and professional runners alike, have helped turn running into a social activity where personal style is a bigger factor.
'Running is not just about participating in the race, but about how you live your life every day,' said Gabriele Casaccia, the creative director and founder of Mental Athletic, a new bi-annual print magazine centered on contemporary running culture that looks more akin to Dazed than Runner's World.
From performance-meets-fashion labels such as Satisfy, District Vision and Soar, all founded in the 2010s, to decades-old sportswear brands like Asics and Saucony, both of which made online sneaker marketplace StockX's list of top-five fastest growing brands in 2024, the race is on to win new customers that sit at the intersection between lifestyle and the sport, while remaining authentic to their unique perspective and the customers that they serve.
Cole Townsend, the founder of Running Supply (a Substack newsletter and online directory that curates and directs visitors to fashionable running products) believes that casualization of running and the rise of lifestyle-influenced marketing within the space is leading running brands to target specific personas within a vast space — rather than vying to become a broadly focused sports brand such as Nike.
'You need to find a new sliver, a new persona, that is appealing to people,' said Townsend.
Satisfy, which turns 10 in 2025, carved a lane for itself by offering something different for trail runners through products with a distinct color palette and a sense of individuality typically not seen in the sector.
'Our brand in some circles has become synonymous with a certain approach to running, trail running especially, and this is what part of the market expects,' said Satisfy chief executive Antoine Auvinet, who believes that even though the running-wear space is becoming saturated, the trail running sector is still ripe for innovation.
Bandit Running has found their own niche by creating products for New York City's ever-growing run club community. It sells versatile clothing that can be worn during both sport and social outings.
'It's knowing that the runner can wear something in a running situation, but also own a race crop that they love styling with baggy denim to wear out on a Saturday afternoon,' said Bandit Running co-founder and chief design officer Ardith Singh.
Distinguishing between 'performance' customers who want products that produce faster times and comfort, and 'lifestyle' customers who are more interested in the overall look, is an increasingly antiquated approach.
'Showing the same kind of running shot like we've always done isn't going to be as interesting now,' said Saucony marketing director Jordan Yob. 'There needs to be a community lever to it, something artistic and creative, to hit on their other interests too.'
A scroll through Saucony's main Instagram page illustrates Yob's point. Its feed includes a diverse range of posts that not only spotlight the elite runners Saucony sponsors, but also local run clubs, lifestyle collaboration partners such as sneaker aficionado Jae Tips, and running influencers. One post is a gallery that shows how professional Saucony athlete Vanessa Fraser styles both Saucony performance running sneakers and a lifestyle silhouette.
The explosive rise of run clubs has made community engagement a key area of focus for brands such as Saucony and younger labels like Bandit Running. Granted running is generally considered a solo sport, its increasing interconnectedness today has encouraged running brands to move with its customers.
Bandit Running co-founder and CEO Nick West credits the brand's community for informing nearly every facet of its business. Its products are created through a 'community-centered design process' that comes from conversations with runners at pop-ups, store-floor chats at their New York brick-and-mortar, Instagram messages, surveys and more.
Even though big and small running brands are paying attention to a customer that increasingly values lifestyle offerings, runners are still looking for gear that will perform and help them hit their goals, whether that's hitting a Boston marathon qualifying time or finishing their first five-mile run.
Townsend believes it is easy to sniff out which brands are authentically invested in running and which ones are hopping on the running-wear trend for a quick cash play. 'We're seeing a lot of Instagram brands pop up, and they're not making particularly technical apparel but just trying to make cool-looking (running) stuff. Those brands won't last very long,' he said.
As running continues to fuel everything from lifestyle sneaker drops to run club activations during Paris Fashion Week, true participants within contemporary running culture will be searching for authentic partners and collaborators.
'Nowadays a lot of brands want to take a chance on this phenomenon… We're not interested in working with any brand that just wants to organize something related to running,' said Mental Athletic's Casaccia 'Running is an experience for us and it's our way of life.'
This article was originally published by The Business of Fashion, an editorial partner of CNN Style.
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