Student Sartorialist: UCLA student body embraces athletic wear

Growing up in a small rural town in California’s Central Valley left me more than a little fashion deprived from the street style seen in more urban cities.

However, my hometown’s scarcity in the newest styles only strengthened my own curiosity in fashion, leading me to enroll in a school located in Los Angeles, a city known for its distinct yet broad sense of style, ranging from casual surf wear to Hollywood glamour.

Yet after almost two years of attending UCLA, with style rarely being a topic of mass discussion, I wonder if the strong fashion identity that I had dreamed of actually exists, which begs me to ask the question: Does UCLA have style?

Each week, by looking at a specific trend or niche group of students at UCLA, I will attempt to answer this question and hopefully reinstate my faith in UCLA as a school that dresses with pride.

With herds of students on Bruin Walk dressed in yoga pants, muscle tanks and brand-name athletic socks, it can at times be difficult to differentiate our college campus from one giant spin class, so this week I have decided to take a closer look at the students’ recent obsession with athletic wear.

My own story with athletic wear is a short-lived one, beginning and ending in the sixth grade.

Around the time of my 12th birthday, my dad came home with a pair of powder blue New Balance shoes just for me, and I excitedly decided to wear them the following day to school.

Sadly, my young, naive self underestimated the power of my Sketchers-clad peers to discourage my shoe choice. My footwear was quickly labeled as nerd shoes, causing my friends to take me aside in order to seriously question my judgment and desire to fit in. And with the comments of jerk preteens forever ingrained in my mind, I vowed never to wear athletic clothing again.

Little did I know that almost a decade later, brands like New Balance would no longer be known as functional nerd shoes, but rather as functional fashion shoes.

With fashion designers like Phoebe Philo for Céline bringing attention to vintage Stan Smith Adidas and Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy partnering with Nike to create the Air Force 1 R.T. collection, the high-fashion world‘s acceptance of athletic wear has become so popular in the past that the trend made its return to the streets.

Second-year psychobiology student Christine Tsang said although there is a wide variety of athletic wear styles, ranging from yoga pants to vintage Adidas windbreakers, she definitely has noticed an increase in athletic wear in general since attending UCLA.

“I have an Adidas Trefoil tee … and Nike Blazers, which aren’t as popular anymore,” Tsang said. “But I still like that style that was more popular in the ’90s.”

One shoe that combines fashion and function that especially stands out to me as the frontrunner in running shoes is the Nike Flyknit. Flyknits have garnered the attention of fashion elites, featured on popular fashion blogs like the Man Repeller as well as adorning the feet of the ever-fashionably controversial Kanye West.

It seems that UCLA students are not immune to the charms of Flyknits either, specially designed knits that provide extra comfort, flexibility and style.

Second-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student Charisse Suba, who has been wearing Nike since middle school, said she likes her Flyknits because of the comfort they provide as well as their sleek and slender design, making it easy to pair them with anything from pants to skirts.

Suba said the possible athletic wear trend may have developed alongside the acceptance of masculine elements in womenswear, giving rise to sporty clothing items such as sports jersey crop tops, leather baseball hats, and letterman jackets.

While certain athletic brands are starting to become a common sight in UCLA’s fashion scene, the athlete backpack has always been a style tradition with students.

Coming in blue or black, the bag not only signals an appreciation for athletic wear, but more importantly signals the wearer as an actual athlete. Whether the embroidered label reads “band” or “golf,” from far away, anyone with the bag can possibly be mistaken as “that star player” destined for the pros.

Second-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student and member of UCLA Bruin Marching Band, Allen Lipson said while his reason for wearing the Adidas backpack is mainly out of convenience, he admits that there is a valid reason behind people feeling cool for wearing something that associates them with UCLA Athletics.

Whether we choose to wear Flyknits to appear equal parts fit and fashionable or wear an athlete backpack because we actually are a part of UCLA Athletics, as students, we take pride in the fact that UCLA possesses a student body that reflects its appreciation for physical finesse by throwing on some sweats and a pair of sneakers before every 8 a.m. class.

I believe UCLA will always be a fitness-centric school, resulting in athletic wear always existing as a necessary clothing staple seen on our campus. And with fashion bloggers, designers and enthusiasts popularizing an aesthetic that intertwines fashion with physical activity, I only see clothing pieces like Flyknits, vintage Adidas jackets and New Balance sneakers spreading to the masses.

What UCLA clothing trends have you spotted on Bruin Walk lately?