Athleisure Soars As Wellness Not Wealth Takes Center Stage Even in Luxury

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Athleisure Soars As Wellness Not Wealth Takes Center Stage Even in Luxury AOC Fashion

Life was far from normal when WSJ Magazine dropped its June/July 2021 issue and this fashion story ‘How to Dress Like an Olympic Legend.

Tennis champ Naomi Osaka had already left the French Open, saying she needed time to work on her mental health. Osaka assured the world that she would be ready for the Tokyo Olympics and her not-yet-announced great honor of lighting the Olympic Flame.

Back at WSJ Magazine Alexander Fisher styled models Aya Jones and Somali Findlay in retro-style jackets from Celine by Hedi Slimane, Canali and Bode, coupled with boldly-hued hooded pieces from Louis Vuitton and Lacoste, which can be thrown over classic Ralph Lauren polos or easy shirts from Hermès or Emporio Armani.

Yoshiyuki Matsumura [IG] shot Jones and Findlay in Brooklyn — how normal is that — and all systems were go for Tokyo. The fashion script sounded — well normal — and lucky for these brands, they are well-positioned for the revised, anything-but-normal late July we’ve experienced in Tokyo.

Wellness Is the New Luxury

When Vogue Business runs a headline that reads: Comfort and wellness set to define luxury in 2021, you know that athleisure is here to stay. Luxury is about relevance, not merely showing one’s status. Increasingly, both luxury market leaders and consumers understand that we aren’t going back to ‘normal’, as in the good old days.

This is not to suggest that human sexuality is not seeking a breakout moment again. But champagne flowing in the streets? Not really.

Covid variants are multiplying like rabbits, and Apple is taking a financial hit, unable to get its global hands on enough computer chips. Yes, last year toilet paper; this year computer chips.

We’re not talking a slowdown in the newest, maximum power chips known to humankind. We’re talking regular ‘ol computer chips. Headlines like CNBC’s Global chip shortage could last until 2023 or even The Guardian’s May 2021 warning Global shortage in computer chips ‘reaches crisis point’ remind us that unless you are super rich, there are choppy waters ahead.