The fact that Sportmax was founded nearly 50 years ago to surf a wave of youthful engagement with athleticism and sportswear that emanated from the U.S. proves that what comes around, goes around. Today, sportswear is again a defining driver of the global vernacular of clothing, and Sportmax continues to mine it for raw materials ripe for an upgrade. Among the sportiest feats of this collection were long silky dresses and skirts—sometimes plain, sometimes floral—whose shape and necklines were defined and corralled by arcs of striped elasticated rib (sometimes branded). The same stripes featured in fine rib-knit body-con tops, leggings, and skirts, with open panels at the back and contra-color outline contours.
Against this home-turf, sporting-sourced aesthetic competed with pieces more rooted in workwear (but similarly embellished to be worn for leisure). Trenches, shirts, wide-belted pants, jumpsuits, and handkerchief-hemmed dresses in teal, navy, grass green, or sand came etched with angular topstitching that highlighted decorative details including double-layered pocket flaps and angular oversize belt fastenings. Leather shorts and bombers with striped, ribbed hems in pale blue or burgundy were neither especially sporty nor worky—just convincingly jaunty. Sportmax might be approaching its sixth decade, but its founding raison d’etre remains relevant, and the creative minds behind it are limber enough to bend with the tastes of today.
