This Breezey Adidas Set Made Me Believe in Tracksuits Again
In My Most Worn, Bazaar editors share the fashion items they cherish more than any others in their closets. Here, senior fashion editor Tara Gonzalez explains why her Clot x Adidas crochet tracksuit made her love sporty separates again.
I haven’t really wanted a tracksuit since the Juicy Couture days, a time when I would have sold my soul for some blinged-out velour. Since then, tracksuits just haven’t had the same pizazz; they all make me feel like Sue Sylvester in Glee.
Then, last year, I went to Shanghai for Fashion Week and saw the streetwear brand CLOT’s twentieth anniversary show, which included a collaboration with Adidas. And that’s when I saw it: the only tracksuit that has made my heart race in decades.
While most people wearing tracksuits look like they’re about to teach a sixth-grade gym class, Clot’s models looked like they were going to the beach for vacation. Their shorts and matching tops had all the trappings of Adidas’s iconic uniform, with three stripes down the shoulder and side of the leg. But instead of being rendered in the standard stretchy cotton, they were crochet. When I spoke to Edison Chen backstage at the show, he said he was surprised no one had ever done something similar. “I’m surprised because something like this is for everyone. A woman can wear this! I can wear this!”
Chen actually designed the set with many different styling opportunities in mind. “It's meant to be see-through, but if you layer the pieces, it immediately becomes not so wide open. It's supposed to be mixed and matched with other colors. It's not supposed to just be black with black. We're encouraging people to add that layer.”
While many consider the tracksuit to be a sort of casual uniform, Chen reimagined it as something that feels more distinctly relaxed and less coordinated. The shoes, too, were an eased-up take on the classics, with Gazelles made of espadrille material and stripes covered in breezy white beading.
I own the crochet set in gray and wore it a handful of times this past summer. Not once was it utilized for anything remotely sporty. Instead, it became the perfect bathing suit cover-up. I’d alternate between wearing a swimsuit top with the crochet shorts or just the top with a one-piece bathing suit. When I paired it with a simple white tank top, it transformed into the ideal travel outfit for the plane. Worn separately, the two pieces each became the perfect foil for a more formal top or bottom, keeping any look chill.
The crochet set was so versatile that my boyfriend quickly took note and started to wear it everywhere as well. (As Chen intended, it was fun for the whole family.) My boyfriend even packed it on a trip to the highlands of Iceland for a wedding. Taking a nature walk amongst snowy hills in his short crochet tracksuit, he looked like a character had been dropped from the Sopranos onto Mars. Perhaps that’s a situation Chen hadn’t imagined, but that’s the magic of his reimagined take on Adidas classics: They work anywhere.
While I hadn’t imagined wearing the set in the colder weather, my boyfriend’s unconventional (and unseasonal) styling choices made me realize that on slightly warmer days I could pair the shorts with a tall pair of boots and a turtleneck. The top also easily works with wide-leg denim and a long trench. Somehow, I had gone from never wearing tracksuits to always wearing a little bit of a tracksuit at all times.
Chen’s second Adidas collaboration for November also just dropped, with varsity jackets, pants, and polos that feel a little more traditional but were still remixed with Chen’s signature swag. Instead of crochet, Chen experimented with color-blocking in bold shades of blue and brown. The Gazelles also feel more elevated, with suede details, contrast stitching on the shoelaces, and stripes covered in the white beading from the previous collection. Once again, he's convinced me that sporty style can fit into any lifestyle.
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