Stretchy, athletic performance fabrics with styles similar to tradition cotton have been quickly emerging on the market, and it only makes sense that men are now looking for a tailored, athletic cut in their dress shirts made out of these unique fabrics.
Earlier this spring, The Wall Street Journal wrote an article revealing that large-scale menswear retailers are finally starting to experiment with clothing crafted from performance, stretchy fabrics. The emergence of these stretchy, performance materials have become wildly popular among the growing “athleisure” space since Lululemon came to the scene in the early 2000’s. Given the extreme comfort and presentable appearance, more and more companies are starting to use these fabrics for all men’s clothing.
So what are athletic performance fabrics (APFs)? APFs are enhanced garments that are achieved by carefully blending multiple fibers together (some synthetic, some natural) during the spinning, knitting, or weaving process. Though time-consuming, these performance textiles have many benefits over natural fabrics (such as cotton), including increased durability, flexibility, and function while retaining the great styles that natural fabrics offer.
Given the stretchiness of these fabrics, it comes as no surprise that men are now gravitating towards APFs, especially men seeking a slimmer, tailored, athletic cut in their shirts. This performance fabric allows men to wear dress shirts comfortably and with style because of the stretch and versatility of the fabric while simultaneously showing off the physique and athletic cut of their upper body.
The New York Times eluded that although menswear brands have been very apprehensive to add stretch to their clothing given this paradigm-shifting fabric, it may very well be the future of menswear. And while these big companies are still slow to the game and retaining their old-thinking of natural fabrics, there are companies that were on this trend before these big brands, one of them being State and Liberty Clothing.
Being a pioneer of the Athletic Fit with athletic performance fabrics, State and Liberty Clothing designs exactly what the article mentions: an athletic cut dress shirts crafted from athletic performance fabric that is extremely stretchy. The stretchy, athletic cut dress shirts have been a hit among Millennials, and especially among professional athletes. With an upwards trending focus on health and fitness throughout the United States, it only makes sense that more and more guys are going to be looking for a true athletic cut dress shirt crafted from performance, stretchy fabrics.
To check out what State and Liberty Clothing is up to, you can click here to learn more.
