Beyoncé leads the trend for kickass kit for women who are fit not thin as Ivy Park prepares to launch this week

Muted colours, a streamlined cut and minimum fuss - Beyoncé is leading the trend for kickass kit
Karen Dacre11 April 2016

Ivy Park, the fashion sportswear line launched by Beyoncé in partnership with Topshop boss Philip Green, hits stores on Thursday spelling retail hysteria from fans of the stratospheric superstar.

But unlike your average celebrity fashion mash-up, it’s not just the Bey Hive who are in hot anticipation, and appreciation, of Ms Knowles Carter’s take on the athleisure trend: this is a collection with long-reaching appeal.

Or perhaps clout is a word that makes most sense here since this is a sportswear line recognisable by the fact that it takes no prisoners.

The crux of a new wave of sportswear brands that bypass frill and fuss in favour of streamlined silhouette and a muted colour palette, Ivy Park is for women who are fit not thin. Just as it is a label for those who seek to project strength and unapologetic power through their off-duty attire.

Highlights in Bey’s offering include Ivy Park print hoodies and shape-skimming leggings in charcoal grey.

Kickass kit - in pictures

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It’s dark, empowering and, yes, extraordinarily motivating because, truly, who wouldn’t want abs/thighs/stamina like Beyoncé?

A beacon of change in a cultural landscape that’s awash with Matcha-drinkers and skinny, stretchy types, Ivy Park is “no shit” sportswear for womankind. And thankfully, Beyoncé’s is not the only brand to field the change.

Outdoor Voices, a Texan leisurewear brand founded by designer Tyler Haney, counts a similar approach to sportswear as its brand DNA - albeit without the razzle dazzle of the world’s most famous feminist. Relying on neutral colours, recurring silhouettes and print-free designs, Outdoor Voices places technical fabrics at the heart of its collections and offers sportswear without the expectation that the person wearing it should become a self-fulfilling Instagram success story.

“We live by the tenet that, simply put, Doing Things is better than not Doing Things,” reads the brand’s mission statement, adding: “Our apparel is designed for lives spent on paths, fields, streets, and everything in between.”

It’s an inspiring message designed to empower the wearer to do what precisely as she or he wants in its clothes.

Like Ivy Park, Outdoor Voices also avoids the classic sportswear clichés, meaning there’s no cerise yoga trouser and no unnecessary design flourishes.

The news that our workout wear need not come in all-singing, all-dancing form but instead be designed to make us feel good in the gym and beyond, also speaks to the design team at Whistles, which has just launched its second sports line alongside London-based fitness studio Frame. In line with Frame’s feel-good philosophy, the Whistles offering isn’t about flashing skin or generating sex appeal but about equipping women with clothes that allow them to move their bodies with ease.

Other no-nonsense sportswear adopters include Sweaty Betty - while the brand has long offered playful prints to gym peacocks it’s adding more and more neutrals to its collections - and Nike, which counts a “jacket that gets out of your way” and “fabric that fights back” among the tag lines for its current collection. In essence, this is sportswear that says “just do it” - and means it. What are you waiting for?

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