Exercise Psychedelia

Arriving in early spring 2024 is our 15th collection where we reflect on the nature of sport and exercise. The title itself refers to the study of exercise physiology, including the almost perverse nature of how working out affects us mentally, emotionally, and all the other ways beyond the obvious physical benefits. Running, and the plethora of other forms of exercise movement-based activity get you high. In some cases, it replaces the need for drugs entirely.

Much of this collection is based on the designer's own experience training as an elite long-distance runner and thus puts a certain emphasis on running iconography and aesthetic themes over other types of sport. This times well with the forthcoming summer Olympic games in Paris– its own theme within the collection that gives rise to the term pyschédathlétiques (psychedelics + athletics, presented in French as well as English), as well as our usage of laurels, a long-standing Greek symbol of victory.

Within our cut-and-sew pieces, a steady employment of both technical and folksy fabrics is present throughout, as we attempt to create a juxtaposition between ancient and modern presentations of athletic or sport-based apparel that should conjure a relative newness to the athleticwear genre. Key pieces include the crochet knit tracksuit with the Los Angeles flag used as an emblematic side stripe, the easily missed “stripe” detail on the Road Race long sleeve, and the Euphoric Tee– a re-drawn bootleg of a bootleg that describes a mouth with tongue hanging out at the end of a workout or race in the exhausted pleasure zone furnished by endorphins, famously known as a "runner's high."