From the runway to the catwalk

With the appearance of the first edition of the British sports fashion magazine in the spring of 2000, the autonomy line of a new fashion segment had reached its climax. The sister paper, the style and design bible Wallpaper only showed höchstmodische sportswear and sports equipment, as well as exclusive presenting exotic sports including inoperative equipment, and offered primarily one thing: plenty of room for expensive Vierfarbanzeigen various sportswear producers. Besides the usual suspects such as Adidas and Nike, Puma, Reebok or Fila presentations made by many old acquaintances from the supposedly "unsporting" fashion like Prada, Hermes, Escada, Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren. The '90s have become increasingly apparent in the "sport affinity" of fashion, between Milan, London and New York decided in this way, a development that the early momentum had received in two nondescript provincial nests on both sides of the Atlantic: in Herzogenaurach, the brother of the fight between Adolf and Rudolf Dassler split home of Adidas and Puma - and in Beaverton, a town in the Pacific Northwest, where you with the Nike World Campus, the seat of the sporty world market leader.

Looking more closely at the production history of the main actors Adidas and Nike, it is a perpetual interest in the kind of shoes to see perfection. A somewhat younger, but becoming ever more important turning point is the development of "non-shoe products, which ultimately resulted in the changing on a quarterly basis collections of the millennium. In this process classic "equipment" such as Adidas and Nike give progressively their old identity as a sporting goods manufacturer, and are turning into sports-lifestyle groups. This "personality change" just the two mythenreichsten sports groups in the world perfumes the former blood, sweat and tränengetränkte athletes world - and also supports the socio-cultural metamorphosis of the sport.

For both Adidas and Nike for excellent special shoes the brilliant idea to start in business life - Adidas were so established his dominance from 1950 to 1970, after a rapid rise in the '70s sparked Nike German competition mid-80s at the forefront of the footwear charts off. The constant expansion and diversification of product range is always ensured the survival of both equipment vendors in a rapidly growing and increasingly dynamic market. The skuzessive extension of the brand portfolio includes the award of long-licensing agreements, the acquisition of foreign firms or the positioning of sub-labels.

Almost half a century, this Differenzeriungsprozess started: 1952 Adidas launched the first "non-shoe" article on the market, a sports bag. A quasi-logical extension of product range, because of course it should above all be transported - the shoes of the same brand. It could have been guarding the materials that first, such a functional accessory shoe production facilities in Herzogenaurach, had left. With leather, the shoemaker Adidas-knew just work, for the variety of clothing items that followed, had the appropriate personnel initially be recruited. Because it took fifteen more years produced until 1967 the first track suits were.

Soon the way was clear for the first basic collection of sporty activities: but still the pants, jerseys and track suits were no longer emphasized as the basic building block for a functional hochleistungssportliche audience. Sporty activities stuck in the Adidas-era still the aura of "special", in the case of competitive even of the "elitist", an. The consequence was a strong specialization, and possibly to differentiate along various "elites" in their respective sports - at least in Germany yielded to this thought quite accurately into the performance-oriented image of the country's economic miracle. " The social position of the sport was inscribed thus fairly firmly in the national mood. In retrospect, this fixation appears on "hochkulturelle" power peaks as a significant obstacle for Adidas - the clientele narrowed it to the comparatively few "serious" athlete and a very respectable number of young professionals who arrived, however, to ensure successful socialization in the now famous for proverbial German Voluntary Sector had hoped.

The clubs met in addition to the discovery, development and advancement of young, emerging athletes even a "dispersal order", but a sporting activity was almost completely remote service possible. Whether alpine football, handball, athletics, tennis and non-table, or grouped nordic skiing, gymnastics and volleyball - the German sports operation in all its facets, far into the province in fine-grained performance classes. Until well into the 70s into the sport socialization in Germany was therefore connected with a - more or less pronounced - competition orientation. Even the annual fitness test for everyone and has a competitive character jederfrau: the sports badge only available to users who age-specific standard times and wide undercut or exceed - and this is also equal to or demonstrate the flexibility of triathlons. Whether it arose under the label of "grassroots" to a real counter-trend, it remains questionable, because the main promoters of such initiatives were still moving, the sporting clubs. The "keep-fit" wave of the 70s, attempted to imitate the straight side of the Atlantic has broken out jogging boom, was still strongly linked to traditional organizational structures - the trim campaigns under the auspices of the German Sports Confederation are a good example. Moreover, the early long-distance runners seem to be any particular emphasis placed on their appearance: "For the trim-trot way, does not require exclusive clothing. On the contrary, a pair of old jeans, a sweater and a simple T-shirts are sufficient in the summer months, on cooler days are long pants or a track suit is recommended. Running clothing is complemented by wind and rain jackets, gloves and woolly hat () depending on the weather. " Gladly, the sporting goods manufacturers are likely to have the advice from the year 1983 probably hardly read - this came from the pen of the sports journalists Holger Obermann. How naturally did the athletic pyramid of federal, state, association, district or county leagues on the product line and policy of the German sportswear manufacturers: for Adidas and Puma presented over the years, the sport is clothing, in addition to most sport-specific characteristics be paid to the race had to fit the core business of non-footwear sector dar. The result was often economical "designed" shirts and suits, who received her fashionable "finish" only through the printing of club name and sponsors logo.

A - at first - effectively turning point represented the great influx of tennis in the 70s - in this period were the foundation stone of many club houses for supporters of "white sport", the then of course, still clung to some English-elitist. Order - was visible next to gyms and soccer fields, at least in the then West Germany - a third place sports activities in the city and countryside. Although the tennis club went on in an orderly voluntary sector, but added even more strongly here than in other popular sports, the social component of the club life. The sport certainly has been at the fore - a functioning league system was quickly developed - but stuck to the tennis is always something "more subtle" to: sportsmanship as a status symbol. A similar trend was evident at this time possibly in skiing - but we buckled anyway only seasonally, and usually far from home, the smooth planks under the boots. The necessary - not very cheap - special equipment and only locally available sports facilities prevented the establishment as a "grassroots people", although most likely to ski away from the individual performance of club structures allowed.

The tennis soon led to new challenges facing the sporting goods manufacturer, for shorts and shirts not only had the athletic demands on the court, but also the fashion needs at the clubhouse stand. Not least - in the meantime by the comprehensive range of indoor tennis and obsolete - Summer Sports existence as an incentive for a collection of seasonal change. A further result, finally did the great successes of the century, two players from Baden. With the Wimbledon title in July 1985 by Boris Becker and Steffi Graf for the inexorable rise of world rankings, the white sport is booming - and the sports goods manufacturers saw were happy, because now in this discipline was also offering "personal" series of articles possible. Adidas benefited primarily from the years of dominance of the "Miss forehand. To the chagrin of marketing strategists, however, they preferred rather simple cuts and patterns, resulting in far less extravagant product lines such as those of her life, but not brand partner, Andre "Paradise" Agassi. While the company Adidas in Germany, then anchored in exchange for some slow-changing sports system developed, and yet just stumbled in the late '70s and early '80s from one crisis to another, was in the U.S. as so often (almost everything) completely different.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the sports landscape also experienced dramatic changes caused in the 70s through the jogging boom, and a decade later by the Aerobics and Fitness shaft. While in the home market by Adidas a relatively "soft" displacement from the team was seen as individual sports, took place in the U.S., a paradigm shift that should be made only in the late 80s also capture the old continent: the change from "sports" Competition-Sport on the "non-sporting fun, sports and health.

The wave reached Nike jogging in the early stages of corporate life, when the expansion had only just begun. Thus the leaders had good opportunities to adapt and design of corporate structures to the development of sport. Of course, even at the beginning of this brand, the athletes career and organized sports - this is more in schools and universities, less so in clubs - the most important clientele. But in the U.S. is much greater individualization of athletic activities had a fast on the range of policies - the mannschaftstaugliche commodity was not so much the focus, instead, was rapidly changing collection of sequences with varied designs are designed and manufactured - the sporting goods industry witnessed the technological transformation from Fordism to post-Fordism. Thus, it followed the fashion orientation of the "sport-social" development: Nike was almost from birth, brighter, faster and more individual than Adidas.

This briefly outlined the process of differentiation was sporting in the 90s, a continuation and acceleration. With regard to the almost yearly basis in the newly emerging "trend sports" it could be expected, the ratio had been reversed: not the sporting goods manufacturers respond to the changes in the sports world, but by establishing an aggressive brand and marketing policy, even new movement activities in the market. One example among many is the lucrative "outdoor" store - in the '90s was this "new" job as an unused and undefined enough so that all the product lines could be commercialized as specially qualified for outdoor activities - trekking shoes and all-weather jackets , but also mountain biking equipment and luggage utensils were among the "outdoor" label subsumed. Consequently, Nike, with "All Condition Gear" a new product group, Adidas positioned itself in this market sector as efficient as elegantly over the Solomon detour: the acquisition of the fields, forests, meadows and winter sports brand specializing synergistically enhanced by Adidas -range.

But the lucrative business of sports, the trend is not understood as a unilateral Kolonialisierungsversuch an "evil" sporting goods industry. Instead, such developments from the blending of different cultural rapprochement resulted - this includes the increase of sports activities in poor health or hedonistic backdrop of the classical competitive sport increasingly supplemented and sometimes push back. It is mentioned here but also drive a change earlier, "recreational activities" such as walking or cycling, which in their current forms as "hiking" or "biking" are increasingly surrounded by the aura of sporty. Acting as a catalyst of the growing "experience orientation" in the sport as außersportlichen area. How much has changed in this maelstrom of interlocking socio-cultural development, the use of sports already, shows the rising share unathletic uses sport shoes: in 1998 were in the U.S., more than half of the "athletic shoes" (54.1%) outside Laced of career, gym or sports hall. The assessed as particularly important properties of the shoes were comfort (83%), the expression of an active lifestyle (63%), and the good brand aura (27%).

The result is, finally, the emergence of a genuine "sport shoes mode", which is increasingly produced and presented in accordance with the requirements and under the conditions of "traditional" fashion and. The regular release of new collections, which sometimes suggests to fashion shows, sporting events transformed the media-presentation of "personal lines" or the increasing "Vermodelung" by athletes believing that Adidas and Nike have really become fashionable companies. An image for the original company of like-wettkampf athletenfixierten equipment devastating suspicion is underscored when we look at the media's perception of young women just Sportlerinnnen - are Anna Kournikova (Adidas) and Mary Pierce (Nike) is more fashion-conscious female tennis players, or (very) sporting models?

This thought process should not be further deepened, it could even get worse this question when looking at various marginal sports. It should be noted, however: The "modification" of the former has a purely functional Sports equipment and apparel designed ranges prepares the ground for a further expansion of product range. Due to the presence of sports or at least elements of sport in ever more areas of everyday life created for Adidas and Nike also always better ways to enter into "sport distant" segments. As with the offering of sportswear as the current version of the casual clothing began, found in the sporty Clock or glasses, an active fragrance or shower gel more stringent. Of course, this walk along the image line between sport and fashion for the opponent also has positive implications: in the encyclical of the fashion decide millennium with great regularity chapter on the "sneaker-chic" [1] or the "fashion sneakers" the ventures into the fashion world. A not very typical, but very fruitful example is provided by Valerie Steele in her simply as "shoes" titled band. The art historian and self-confessed shoe fanatic notes, in the great attraction of the sport shoe for the "traditional" shoe industry - as evidence Steele pulls up several articles from relevant journals such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Cosmopolitan. The journals of the good (and expensive) taste now consider a new Nike model already includes a detailed article, but scent - somewhat prematurely - the "death of sneakers". Above all, the high-end sneakers awakened from the Paris, London or New York designer forging the interest of the old-fashion world. Caryn Franklin, former chief editor of British magazine iD, dates the birth of the fashionable "Coach Mania" accurate to the year 1983: The Vivienne Westwood at a Paris fashion show March-their "Witches" collection, combined with sneakers, "were women below the ankle comfortably fitted and secured together with the seal of the designer brand - this provided the opportunity for shoes, a contrast traditional female styles. " Looking now at the naked sales, then play the "designer sneakers" on the shoe market, an important role. Granted - sneakers that were designed on the drawing boards of Hilfiger, Karan and Co. or the 600-dollar-model "Quick" Hermes speak clearly to other customer segments as the "commodity" of the sports shoe manufacturer. Even maximum manufacturer like Gucci or Prada are now leading shoes, always match the "active lifestyle" even of the most solvent of buyers - whether totally unfazed by the takeover of a sporty design elements oriented environment. But just for the peaceful coexistence of popular and elite models seem of great importance to today's "sport-fashion footwear market to be" - from very different directions the various niches are occupied, and the creation of a successful stylization Distinktionspotenziale necessary. The confusing for laymen as well as any shoe chaos Giert out for decoding by a fogged "sneaker freaks" who amass impressive collections of footwear, footwear build veritable shrines and devote almost every minute of her time to the object of desire.

But that's another story.