Lycra and Nishat redefine functional fashion in the new capsule collection

From Louis Vuitton’s collaboration with Timberland and Sacai’s ongoing collaboration with Carhartt WIP to the ‘yassification’ of tennis apparel thanks to Zendaya’s red carpet looks for the ‘Challengers’ press tour, today’s most exciting fashion often draws inspiration from different clothing categories. .

At the mass level, traditional denim brands are also moving to hybrid active/lifestyle clothing. Levi’s introduced the Levi’s Tech program earlier this year with the 511 Slim Tech men’s pants, a style designed for an on-the-go lifestyle. AG wants to conquer the active audience with its new activewear collection for men, consisting of polos, joggers and bomber jackets.

The Lycra Company and Nishat Dyeing and Finishing, a Lahore, Pakistan-based textile manufacturer of high-performance workwear, denim and technical fabrics, have developed a capsule collection of men’s, women’s and unisex clothing that meets this shift in the demands of the consumer.

The 60-piece collection, called ‘Blurring the Boundaries’, includes cardigans, outerwear, dresses, tops, trousers, shorts and more. Hard workwear elements such as reflective tape and panels of hi-vis safety orange serve both style and functional purposes. Versatile garments also feature functional pockets and durable zippers and snaps.

The collection was launched last week at the Functional Fabric Fair in Portland, Oregon and will be presented at Kingpins Amsterdam from April 24 to 25.

“This collection is all about (the idea) that you can style it any way you want,” says Pakeeza Zaidi, head of design and product development at Nishat Mills Ltd., adding that she designed the collection to transition effortlessly between different environments .

The garments are made from non-denim woven fabrics, enhanced with Lycra technologies. Lycra and Lycra Adaptiv fibers provide freedom of movement and improved comfort. Lycra T-400, Lycra T-400 Ecomade and Lycra Dual Comfort give fabrics durability, a cotton-like touch and mechanical stretch. Coolmax and Thermolite technologies add thermal comfort, such as moisture management and breathability.

The collection is the result of more than a year of discussion between the Lycra and Nishat teams about how consumers are experimenting with performance brands, bringing outdoor and workwear into their everyday wardrobes and how brands and retailers are responding to the shift.

A confluence of drivers is behind the shift, from the rise of gorpcore style on the runway to consumers adopting a healthier outdoor lifestyle. Citing Business of Fashion and McKinsey’s State of Fashion 2024 report, Ebru Ozaydin, The Lycra Company’s strategic marketing director for denim and ready-to-wear, said more outdoor brands are expected to launch lifestyle collections, while lifestyle brands are adding technical elements to their collections. , “further blurring the lines between functionality and style.”

Post-pandemic consumers are also looking for practicality, durability and performance in their fashion, making technical outdoor clothing a good fit for their budget, according to Ozaydin. “(Consumers) don’t see this kind of clothing just for outdoors or just for gyms or walking… it becomes part of their lifestyle and the way they update their wardrobe in a different way,” she said.

“We must realize that after the corona crisis, the fashion landscape and consumer demands have completely changed,” Zaidi said.

While many of the technologies and manufacturers finding new opportunities in the fast-growing performance lifestyle apparel category existed before 2020, Zaidi said they provided “mainstream” products that consumers demanded at the time. “The products we make today, we couldn’t have imagined five years ago that we would have things like this,” she said.

It was also unlikely that designers would use artificial intelligence to develop their collections.

Zaidi input sketches and descriptive words into an AI platform to create mood boards for the collection. The process formed the basis for Blurring the Boundaries’ avatar-inspired fits, bold colors, fluid textures and even the lookbook’s location: Times Square. She described the collection as a link between the metaverse and real life.

The Lycra Company and Nishat, which works with Gap Inc., Levi’s, Madewell, One Jeanswear Group, Eddie Bauer and more, share a passion for solving problems. When developing innovations, Ozaydin says Lycra always starts with the pain points at the consumer level.

Meanwhile, research and development are at the heart of Nishat, says Jennyka Wasserman, marketing and development of Nishat Mills Ltd.

“We love developing new things,” she says. “That is the most important aspect for us. We want to solve the problem before the customer comes to us and asks us to do it, so we’re ahead of the curve.”