Sports Attire Has Entered a New Era of Cool—5 Brands the Fashion Set Is Wearing In 2025

Workout wear is evolving. It’s been referred to as gym clothing and athleisure for the larger part of a decade, but now, I more often hear it mentioned as sports attire. It’s a dialect pivot that is also reflected in the larger attitude about what we’re wearing for athletic activities. Brands such as Sporty & Rich have created entire brands around the sporting world, focusing in on aspirational lifestyles where tennis and golf are recreational pursuits.
More brands, too, are entering the fashion space in the sporting world. Most often, less focused on performance-driven clothing and more focused on the lifestyle aspect. In many ways, capturing the preppy cool of brands such as Ralph Lauren and Lacoste with modern spins. Malbon, and Horse Sport are just a handful which are redefining what sporty attire looks like today and how workout clothing is entering a new era of cool. Ahead, the brands to know and pieces to shop.
Sporty & Rich
Malbon
Horse Sport
Recreational Habits
Varley
Kristen Nichols is the Associate Director, Special Projects at Who What Wear where she oversees luxury, runway content, and wedding features, and covers fashion within the luxury market, runway reporting, shopping features, trends, and interviews with leading industry experts. Kristen has worked with brands including Prada, Chanel, and Tiffany & Co., and her style has been featured in publications including Vogue.com, Vogue France, WWD, and the CFDA. Kristen began her career at Rodarte, where she worked on styling, photo shoots, and runway shows, and at Allure, where she moved into print and digital editorial. She graduated from the University of Southern California, where she studied art history and business, and currently lives in New York.