And just like that, everyone was running. Like the young Forrest Gump striding free of his callipers and legging it clear across the great state of Alabama, the lockdown has seen us all realise that, despite years of derision, we do in fact love a good jog.
In mid-April, there were approximately 50 per cent more outdoor runs undertaken across the UK than at the same point a month previous. But does this new group of runners know that they’re joining a movement that was already on the up, anyway? The sport’s popularity is ascending – applications to the 2020 London Marathon were up 10 per cent on the year before, and 50 per cent of UK-applications were from first-time marathon runners – but so too is its coolness, thanks in no small part to a clutch of ultra-hip brands.
Take Satisfy, a Parisian-based, running apparel and accessory label that elevates kit to a new level of luxury, and builds its ethos around mindfulness, solitude and achieving the elusive ‘runner’s high’. It also emanates a vaguely pious vibe. “The running ‘cult’ is something we came up with when we started the brand,” founder Brice Partouche tells Esquire. “You can see a cult like a religious cult, but it means culture, too.”
The cult of hip running is spreading. You can see it in the rise of Hoka One One, the brand that created top-spec running shoes to better handle the rigours of trail running, and in turn, basically started the fashion industry trend for ‘ugly’ trainers. And you can see it in the collaborations between Aime Leon Dore and New Balance, Universal Works and adidas and Nike and Jun Takahashi’s Undercover. Not only is the act of running cool, but the idea and aesthetic – new and old – is cool, too. (Essentially, so long as you combine primary colours, vintage styling, technical brilliance and an exploration of the potential of the human mind, you’ll be bang on trend.)
In the UK, Soar Running creates space-age, concept run-wear out of an admiration for “real runners”, while Iffley Road takes its inspiration from the era of athletics that saw Roger Bannister run the first sub-four-minute mile, and takes its name from the track where he did it.
All of the above is built to serve the requirements of a professional athlete. And it’s built to be cool. The idea is not to wear it when you’re not running, but that when you are, you know it sets you apart from everyone else.
Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more delivered straight to your inbox.
SIGN UP
Need some positivity right now? Subscribe to Esquire now for a hit of style, fitness, culture and advice from the experts
SUBSCRIBE
