Street Sports Style Drives Urban Outdoors

• Paris Olympic's legacy - sport and urban cultures combine at SPOT24
• Striking street style with a sassy attitude
• The truth of urban outdoors
• Brands making strides on the street
• ISPO Textrends' sourcing platform for street
• Trending - Dope denim
• Trending - Graphic Attack
• Dates for the diary!

Five years ago, ISPO Textrends recognized the burgeoning demand for fabrics and trims that cater to a more creative approach in the Street Sport sector. This foresight has not only shaped the industry but also opened new avenues for innovation. Performance denim, striking graphics, and urban-inspired multi-functionality, once considered too bold for traditional markets, now pack a punch in the urban playground. The Olympic exhibition at SPOT24 is a testament to this evolution, where gritty works alongside bright messages, and communication shouts from billboards and convenience stores throw in an eclectic frisson of colors.

For all the trends developed each season, traveling the cities is par for the course. From Shanghai to New York, Beijing to Munich, urban attire is becoming increasingly important – no more so than when I landed in Paris and experienced the immersive exhibition of SPOT24. This exhibition offers an interactive experience through works, images, and original creations by French and international artists, and it highlights the six new Olympic disciplines: skateboarding, sport climbing, BMX freestyle, surfing, 3×3 basketball, and breaking, along with the vibrant cultures surrounding them.

What a feast of inspiration, from private collectors loaning their retro skateboard stickers to nostalgic graphics outlining how these sports crossed the globe, influencing a new generation of urban athletes. Breaking, which originated in New York, crossed the Atlantic in the 1970s, and it was only at this year's Olympics that it was recognized as an official discipline. Illustrated by the immersive experience of being in a subway carriage, complete with urban art and music, this exhibition could not fail to inspire new ideas.

This urban attitude isn't just about sports; it is about the music, the graphics, the language, and the expression that emanates from the streets. These are the playgrounds of movement, self-expression, and customization, and this exhibition offers inspiration by the shed-load. The street vibe is unadulterated pleasure, a new striking style with a sassy attitude that distinguishes it from the traditional outdoors. Inspiration from this exhibition is driving an edgier street style that can complement 'gorpcore'.

When street and sport collide, an attractive new offering emerges, and this is where. I love my fashion, but when it comes to urban adventures, I am not striding the streets in my Manolos; I am shooting along in my favorite pair of urban ONs. Today's consumer doesn’t have to be heel-flipping their skateboard or bar-spinning their BMX to be part of this urban outdoor massive; this sector is an open book to anyone interested in making their lives easier.

While skateboard parks, basketball courts, and climbing walls continue to feature in the city landscape, the new direction in urban mobility makes this trend appealing. With more cities pedestrianized, cycling encouraged, and scooters and bikes readily available, protection is becoming crucial in arriving to work clean and dry – and where better to look than fabrics and trims designed for the great outdoors. In turn, the increase in travel also spurs new developments, requiring the same level of performance and protection, with a stylish edge, during city breaks in unfamiliar urban landscapes.

On today's sidewalks, many sports brands influence the street sports look, with Adidas perhaps the biggest on the footwear front. To stay in the know, check out Highsnobiety's essential streetwear brands for 2024, which are influencing consumers globally.

And it doesn't stop there. The announcement of Brit band OASIS reforming for a slew of concerts next year, along with Liam Gallagher's trademark parkas and bucket hats, will further fuel the obsession with the urban outdoors.

Italian fashion brands are leading the way, optimizing the urban outdoor look with in-depth R&D into performance fabrics and classic styling. Napapijri and Stone Island announced Gallagher as the face of the iconic street brand, alongside DJ Peggy Gou—the first woman to be featured in a Stone Island campaign—the actor Russell Tovey, and skateboarder Sage Elsesser.

A new breed of street style is emerging for fashion and the street, drawing from the fantastic pool of performance ingredients. We are all too familiar with traditional functions like water repellency, windproofing, membrane technology, recycled synthetics, and bio-based developments.

But take it one step further: deliver to today's consumer a street style that easily transcends to the ski slopes. This isn't just a sustainable merit—buy better, buy less—it also offers multi-faceted apparel for more efficient use by today's consumer. It's a win-win!

Denim has been ubiquitous on the streets for decades. At ISPO Textrends, since the launch of Street Sports, performance denim has steadily progressed, shifting from the traditional 100 percent cotton to innovative blends. High tenacity yarn Cordura lead the way for tough and resilient denim with a soft hand, with Lycra and Creora developing spandex products specific to the denim market for fit and flexibility.

It has progressed further as we see developments across all sports and outdoor sectors coming through. Bio-based synthetics and new naturals are creating interesting compositions and surface effects. Denim with durable water repellency (DWR) treatment and mechanical water repellency, which eliminates the need for a chemical finish, is emerging.

The authentic twill appearance of denim continues to feature, but it isn't just for wovens. Knit manufacturers mimic the 3/1 structure to create warp knits and French Terry with built-in performance, from anti-odor to quick-drying.

Design inspiration was abundant at the SPOT24 Olympic exhibition, and it has taken us in a gritty yet graphic direction. From graffiti to graphics and nostalgic memorabilia, this visual approach is perfect for the performance sector.

Again, ingredients pursue the sustainable route but take a more aggressive approach to surface effects. Water-free printing and dyeing are par for the course, applied to outer shells, taking traditional multifunctional protection to new heights with expressive designs. Urban communication and expression can also be easily applied through trims, as heat transfers and labels adopt a sketch-like appearance and freestyle approach.

Black dominates, keeping it gritty and practical, but that doesn't mean we need to be void of color. It is there, but it is worked in innovative grungy effects through clever dope-dyed yarn combinations, working black with contrasting bright tones and getting a dirty and aged appearance.

The SPOT24 Olympic exhibition is open until 31 December 2024 and can be found at 101 Quai Jacques Chirac, at the foot of the iconic Eiffel Tower. Book a ticket in advance.

Applications for ISPO Textrends are closing on 30 September for participation in the material forum at ISPO Munich. A final call out for textile companies to submit their latest innovations for the sports and outdoors sectors to be judged by the international jury of textile and industry experts.