Three years in the making, Athleta’s high-impact collection has finally launched.
The Gap-owned brand’s eight-piece Train collection is geared for intense workouts—think high intensity interval training (HIIT)—and is centered around Athleta’s new proprietary fabric, PowerMove.
“Before we set out on this journey, we all knew that we wanted something better in tights,” Casey Schumacher, senior director of Athleta, told Sourcing Journal. “And at Athleta, we had some really great ranges, but we knew that there was an opportunity to create a lighter weight fabric that gave her coverage and didn’t ride down.”
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Made with 77 percent recycled polyester (sourced from post-consumer plastic bottles), the fabric features an interlock construction to provide a “sleek sensation” with coverage, stretch and weight. Constructed using a fine 50-guage double-knit machine, the resulting PowerMove material is light, breathable and quick-drying while still staying durable.
“This is actually our third generation of this ultimate performance training fabric,” Katherine Chow, director of fabric innovation and research at Athleta, told SJ. “What’s unique about is we really focused on going fine gauge, so we focused on a 50-gauge construction so that we get the ultimate fineness and lightness of the fabric, but we’re able to knit in a really high level of compression.”
PowerMove utilizes both vertical and horizontal compression for a supportive fit, and the fabric is cut on the cross grain for more flexible compression—aka, the garments won’t slip out of place during exercise.
“With cutting [the fabric] on the cross grain, we’re actually giving her the highest amount of stretch vertically for deep movements like squats and high jumps, but also giving her compression going around her body,” Chow explained. “That was really unique and innovative; we went through multiple rounds of fabric development and were testing and then into fabric to fit and garment wear tests.”
And Athleta really did take testing seriously. The Lululemon rival did eight rounds of testing—training exercises, of course, but also robust surveys gathering demographic and psychographic details—with at least 100 different women of every size the brand offers.
“We’re always kind of digging into ‘how do we service her? How do we provide her solutions? How do we make her life better? How do we keep her emotion?’” Schumacher said. “But the cool thing is, if we can get that right, it can solve so many other things that she needs.”
The hero piece of the Train collection is the Interval Tight: quick-drying leggings for cooling with high-impact support. The tights, which run for a cool $89, feature a “unique” waistband design that utilizes adhesive technology—allowing it to “mold” to the wearer. Train also features the Interval Stash 7/8 Tight ($109), the Interval Stash 7” Short ($69) and the Interval Jacket ($135) which features an ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) of up to 40.
“Our innovative new Train Collection truly brings to life Athleta’s mission to empower women through movement. With this launch, Athleta continues its commitment of creating products for real women with our obsessive attention to every detail,” Schumacher said. “We wanted to ensure we created a product she could jump, lift, sweat and move in without distraction.”
The B Corp also unveiled the Unstoppable Fleece Assortment, an assortment featuring Flex Fleece, another new and proprietary fabric that’s a midweight, technical fleece comprised of recycled polyester (93 percent) and spandex (7 percent). The collection—including a full zip, quarter zip vest and pair of joggers—is wicking, quick drying and breathable, ideal for layering for outdoor workouts or for pulling on after a gym session.
“We put our blood, sweat and tears into this launch,” Schumacher said. “And what we’re doing to do is we’re going to listen to her every week, like, is she loving it as much as we are? And if she’s not, what can we do to make it better—I think that constant dialogue with her is going to make things better and better as we innovate.”
