best dress

Attention all women who have spent the last few years wearing yoga pants and sweats in your downtime: men are finally homing in on your stretchy-waisted turf.

Once considered to be the unfashionable clothing staple of people who spend their weekends on the couch with a bag of Cheetos, sweatpants have taken a decidedly stylish turn. Sales in Canada have risen 18 per cent year-over-year to $1.3 billion, according to market research firm NPD Group— and the biggest buyers in the category are male millennials aged 18 to 34, who increased their spending on the louche by nearly 40 per cent for the year.

“I think sweatpants are the male answer to denim,” said Sandy Silva, director of fashion and apparel at NPD Group Canada. “Men are veering more away from everyday denim.”

It’s part of a growing “athleisure” trend first embraced by Lululemon-loving women in the last decade who began wearing yoga pants to engage in a whole host of activities that had nothing to do with the lotus position.

Athleisure, a term coined to describe fashion-forward casual sportswear that only occasionally has an athletic function, is characterized more by the stylings of Kanye West catching a flight in $2,400 Balmain black leather sweatpants than by the sartorial leanings of Adam Sandler, a longtime aficionado of the classic baggy-kneed cotton style.

Athleisure sales — which include yoga wear, sweatshirts, and sweatpants — have leapt by more than 15 per cent this year to $2.9 billion, representing a solid 12 per cent of the overall Canadian apparel market.

Silva said people’s growing concern with fitness in the last decade has been answered with a new generation of sweats that have evolved far beyond old-school cotton varieties that quickly bag out at the knee, incorporating performance attributes to clothing that can be worn in or out of the gym.

“It’s not necessarily that Canadians are becoming lazy — they want their products to be versatile,” she said.

It’s not necessarily that Canadians are becoming lazy — they want their products to be versatile

Lululemon Athletica Inc. is known for seizing and helping to cement the trend for women, diversifying its early product offerings beyond yoga pants into lines with more varied uses — so-called stretchy “technical” garments for exercise with sweat-wicking and odor-free properties, casual “lifestyle” garments for every day wear, and garments that could be worn for both purposes.

In the past few years, the retailer has broadened its selection of menswear as the athleisure category began to take off. Indeed, while sales of casual athletic apparel have stayed flat in the last year among female millennials, athleisure sales among male millennials have surged 32 per cent.

“Whether it is Nike or Adidas, across all of the major brands you are really seeing a lifestyle apparel push,” says Jessica Arnott, lead product merchandiser at New Balance Canada, which has been broadening its so-called “lifestyle” apparel and footwear categories to meet a growing demand for stylish sportswear.

see more: vintage style bridesmaid dresses