According to the folks at Adidas HQ, this season’s Adidas by Stella McCartney collection was inspired by “athletes.” Well . . . duh? Isn’t this an activewear line? What McCartney’s reflection on athletes and athleticism meant in practice was that this was a collection more focused on functionality than aesthetics—the updates mainly had to do with details of cut and fabrication that optimized the performance of the apparel. That was witnessed in the feathery weight of the running gear and elements such as compression bands, reflective strips, mesh inserts, and internal cooling dots placed at points on the body where the body generates the most heat. McCartney’s zebra-print maillots were cut with an eye toward hydrodynamism—they also looked a good deal hipper than the standard-issue racing suit—and her seamless knit onesie managed to hark back to Western yoga practice’s boho roots and deploy new textile technology in aid of peak flexibility. Women who are devotees of a particular sport will appreciate McCartney’s care in seeing to their utilitarian needs; those who mainly aim to compete in the sport of fashion, meanwhile, will glom on to pieces such as the designer’s floral-print anorak and ergonomic black-and-white sandal, an excellent alternative come spring to the omnipresent Birk. “Performance” was the focus here, in other words, but there was more than one way this collection performed.
