We’re going to let you in on a little secret of designing sportswear. The people who work on serious, performance technology stuff don’t envy the people who work in the casual lifestyle field at all. That’s because athletics have a clearly defined set of demands that can be fulfilled by purpose driven design solutions. Leisure, on the other hand, is a much more nebulous concept to get a handle on.
Take running, for example. Some shoes might have more cushioning than others, some might reduce more weight, or opt for a natural, barefoot feeling, but regardless of the route taken, the end point is always going to be the same, the personal peak performance that a runner is capable of delivering that day.
Now, look at something like the tracksuit, worn purely for leisure. Drop it into three different contexts, like The Sopranos, the Beastie Boys, circa 1986, and The Royal Tenenbaums, and you have three entirely different uses for the same garment. The tracksuit isn’t starting out with specific goal in mind; it needs to be universal.
Everyone has their own way to unwind, and when you choose to do it in sportswear, there are certain things that you’re expecting, out of your apparel. It’s about feeling comfortable in your own skin, because nobody wants to feel self conscious about being out of place, when they’re trying to relax. But who can predict every variable situation that somebody might find relaxing? It’s a much more open-ended problem, which requires a flexible balance between comfort and style. That’s why the best sportswear is an extension of the person wearing it, kind of like an aesthetic version of the Venom symbiote, without all the powers and consciousness melding. (That’s not really a bad thing though; Eddie Brock doesn’t lead a very relaxing life.)
For Autumn/Winter 2018, Bodega recognizes that leisure is serious business. How much time in a given 24 hour period do you actually spend doing anything purely for your own enjoyment? It’s not a rhetorical question; the answer is ‘not enough.’ So, when those moments of blissful freedom actually do roll around, the last thing you want is to be let down by your gear.
A new collection of engineered relaxation blends athletic style and everyday comfort. Live life at your own pace.
