The Labor Day holiday just wrapped up but on Tuesday, New York Fashion Week was starting to shift into gear. HRH Princess Beatrice of York, actress Sami Gayle, Nastia Liukin and Olivia Chantecaille were on hand to mark the latest designer collaboration between Derek Lam and Athleta at the ath-leisure brand’s SoHo shop.
Former Olympic gymnast Liukin offered a practical analysis of the appeal of the latest clothing fad.
“Being an athlete for so many years, I’ve lived in workout gear, so to be able to see a collaboration like this that’s high in fashion is amazing,” she said. For Gayle, the attraction is simple: “I live in workout clothes. Everyday I do something different, whether it’s dancing or SoulCycle.”
At some point during the party, a group of dancers from Gallim Dance Company in Brooklyn, N.Y., took to a curved platform to show off the movability of the athletic wear, with a modern dance set to Florence and the Machine. “I said to Derek earlier, isn’t it fun to see your product doing the splits?” said Nancy Green, president of Athleta.
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“I’m an American designer, and American design is about sportswear,” Lam said of his color-blocked collection, which features workout separates in greens, blues and neutrals. “Equestrian, tennis, all the things that we think of as classic Americana sports. And so what this represents is classic American sportswear.”
With this behind him, his attention now turns to his spring show, which he’ll present on Sunday. “We have a lot of work ahead of us,” he said.