PicoBlog

Good morning,

I'm signing in again. Yes. Poor performance, I know. Sorry for my absence. But today I managed to get back, stocked up on enough filter coffee I decided to sit down and chat with you all.

The last few weeks have been different: I'm back in internship fever. Or just about to — the last week I spent desperately at home in a tracksuit writing applications. So, If you happen to have an internship available — slide into my DM's and if not, just read on.

Today we're dedicating ourselves to the cosiest outfit of our lives: the tracksuit. A piece of clothing that has brought us through a difficult time in the past three years, but actually has an exciting story behind it.

The invention of the tracksuit dates back to 1939, when the French sports company Le Coq Sportif developed the so-called «Sunday Suit». But it took a few decades and a change in our society for the big breakthrough. After the eventisation had hit hard worldwide and sporting events became a commercial highlight, the tracksuit got more and more attention.

In the late 60s, a small company called Adidas developed its first garment — a tracksuit. But not without having planned a big advertising campaign. To reach people, they wanted to make use of these commercial sporting events and got German football star Franz Beckenbaur as an ambassador. If you are not into football, the name might not mean anything to you. But you definitely know the iconic look: three iconic white stripes on a tracksuit material.

The tracksuit's name also has its origins in this area: it came about because it was literally a suit designed to be worn on the track. Obvious, isn't it? At the time — in addition to Ambassador Beckenbauer — it was also a favourite of American sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith.

Quickly, the tracksuit also made its way away from sport into show business. A show-stopper to win over the youngest generation. In the 1970s, Bruce Lee wore a red two-piece tracksuit on the TV show Longstreet — the first time the style appeared on prime-time US television. Later that decade, in the film Game of Death, he wore a distinctive yellow one-piece tracksuit with black stripes that not only became Lee's trademark, but also inspired Uma Thurman's yellow number in Kill Bill: Volume 1 and probably countless Halloween costumes. And clearly the most influential tracksuit in pop culture.

Also during this period, jogging emerged as a sporting activity. A new-age phenomenon for young adults from the suburbs. And the optimal physical activity to wear a tracksuit while doing so. For the first time, the garment made it from pre-sport wear to actual sportswear.

The following years can be described as the rebellious youth of the tracksuit. Before that, it was still the garment for jogging suburban parents. But it quickly spread to hip-hop. In the 80s, the tracksuit provided a moment that reverberated for years to come and permanently changed the relationship between the music and sports industries. Run-DMC released their infamous song «My Adidas» in 1986, and although the song was strictly about trainers, the rap crew's constant wearing of the Adidas tracksuit helped make the garment synonymous with hip-hop.

At the time of the song's release, there was no official contract between Adidas and Run-DMC, but the group's influence was unmistakable. In one of the slickest examples of product placement ever, Adidas finally came knocking. They offered the group a $1.5 million advertising contract, officially sealing the link between street culture and hip-hop. This contract is now widely regarded as the beginning of the official financial relationship between hip-hop and sports companies — a phenomenon that has developed into an industry of its own.

But not only the rappers of the street, but also the businessmen of the street started fancying the tracksuit. All of a sudden, the garment got a bad reputation. At that time, the tracksuit was adopted by a rather nefarious demographic: organised crime. This loose-fitting, stretchy sportswear proved irresistible to soft-bellied mobsters like John Angelo «Junior» Gotti. The mobsters discovered their next uniform and damaged the tracksuit's reputation to this day.

Even now, low-level criminals like to be portrayed in TV shows wearing tracksuits with fat watches and chains. A direct consequence of the Mafiosi's preference for clothing.

In the meantime, we have already arrived at the turn of the millennium and the tracksuit has placed itself in our society. Away from sport and towards a cliché with a slightly dubious edge. Street and youth culture played a major role in the tracksuit's continued relevance during this time. Logically, because youth culture has always been impressed by anything with an illicit touch.

In addition, the success of European hip-hop artists was also an important factor. Grime as well as hip-hop in France became more and more popular — directly from the most socially deprived neighbourhoods of the countries into the ears of the youth. At the same time, the tracksuit was omnipresent as a symbol of struggle against the status quo. Kano, Skepta as well as Sexion d'Assaut could always be found wearing tracksuits on stage and in the city centre.

The tracksuit continued to morph into a symbol of young people's rebellion. The garment became a victim of extreme politicisation and was often associated with violence and crime. Even though hip-hop and grime were able to molt into the mainstream, the tracksuit was stuck with this negative reputation for a long time.

In the years around 2015, the tracksuit got more attention again. One reason for this was the hype of streetwear brands like Supreme, Stüssy and Palace. They turned the clothing industry upside down and got high-fashion designers like Alessandro Micheles to release Gucci tracksuits. Within a decade, the tracksuit went from being the garment of rebellion to the catwalks of fashion weeks.

Then, right at the end of the tracksuit hype, came an unexpected turn of events: The Pandemic. And a period in world history when people were forced to stay at home. Ergo, to spend the day on the sofa in cosy clothes. And nothing is better for that than the tracksuit.

And so the «Sunday Suit» by Le Coq Sportif, which was invented to spend a cosy day, somehow found its way back to its origin.

Love,
Pascal

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