Give Your Gym Kit A High Fashion Makeover Thanks To Lululemon x Roksanda

Last year, the phenomenon that is athleisure was identified as one of fashion's biggest global trends with a market value of over $300 billion. That's a lot of leggings. For Canadian brand Lululemon, this has meant that what was once an athletic apparel brand that you might visit to buy some clothes for yoga now has a cult-like following around the world. In 2017, for example, it was named as the most popular fashion brand among millennials. Leggings are no longer just leggings – they're a status symbol by which an increasing amount of people are measuring themselves. Capitalising on just that, the brand launched a collaboration between Lululemon and the fashion tour de force that is Roksanda, eponymous brand of Serbian-born designer Roksanda Ilinčić, in October of last year. Today, the second instalment has arrived in stores and online.

Fusing the high-performance functionality of Lululemon's clothes with the high fashion aesthetic of Roksanda, this 17-piece collection is the gym kit of your dreams. Yes, there are leggings, vests and outerwear, but they're anything but boring. Instead, they've been given voluminous sleeves, unexpected colour combinations and sculptural silhouettes. The collaboration was a result of many discussions between Audrey Reilly, Lululemon’s SVP of women’s design and Ilinčić, the latter of whom is a keen gym goer but toldVogue that, despite her love of colour in every other aspect of her life, she only wore black to the gym.

'The designs are carefully created to complement every element of a woman’s lifestyle, says Ilinčić. It was important to me that each piece feels natural to wear at any point in the day.' As well as the standard staples, there are also some unexpected pieces, like the Face Forward Skirt – inspired by a classic Roksanda silhouette, this lightweight, quick-drying skirt is designed to be layered over leggings after yoga, for example. The intention is to cater to busy women's lives in the easiest, most effortless way possible.

The previous collection's hero piece was the Infinity Coat. Available in two different colourways, the wind-proof, waterproof cover-up was like the Swiss Army Knife of coats. You could wear it as a puffer, a vest, a trench or as the full shebang, it had thumb holes to keep your sleeves in place and it even packed into a small, handy pouch. At £898, it was the most expensive piece in the range but, for Roksanda fans looking for something truly versatile that could be worn in many different ways (and forever, too) it was catnip. Tellingly, it sold out. While there's no distinct stand-out piece for this second drop, there is the Face Forward cape, which is just the ticket for protecting you from the current climes, as well as a great lightweight trench coat.

'Now more than ever,' Ilinčić says, 'women are focused on pushing boundaries. They’re looking for product that enhances the balance of style and function. Lululemon’s codes mean each product has a strong purpose— ultimately the wellbeing of the wearer.'

Something tells me that gym kits will never quite be the same again.

SHOP: Lululemon x Roksanda