好英语网穿着运动休闲服上班的时代来了吗？
“They were all wearing trainers and layers of black,” says Evelyn Cotter, a career coach based in London. She’s describing a recent public speaking conference she attended, where the crowd of ambitious young professionals were dressed in a uniform way.
"他们都穿着运动鞋和一身黑衣服。"伦敦职场教练伊芙琳·考特（Evelyn Cotter）说。她描述着最近参加的一场公开演讲活动，与会的那些满怀抱负的年轻专业人士都穿着风格统一的服装。
“Everyone had come straight from work, they were wearing black jeans and smart sneakers, but it definitely felt professional,” adds Cotter. “It’s a conscious style choice. It’s not just what you throw on to play with your dog in the garden.”
"所有人是下班后直接过来的。他们都穿着黑色牛仔裤和时尚运动鞋，但这确实感觉是很符合职业人士的服装。"考特说，"他们特意选择了这种风格，而不仅仅是在院子里逗狗玩的时候才穿这些衣服。"
"运动休闲服"指的是并非专为参加运动而设计的运动服和运动鞋，该行业在2008至2015年间增长42%
The industry of ‘athleisure’ – sporty clothes and shoes that people don’t necessarily wear to play sport – grew by a staggering 42% between 2008 and 2015, according to Morgan Stanley research. More recently, its influence has begun to creep into offices, where workers’ clothing is becoming increasingly relaxed and designed for comfort. The Society for Human Resource Management, an international organisation, tracks how many employers allow workers to dress casually every day, and that figure rose from 32% in 2014 to 44% in 2016.
"运动休闲服"指的是并非专为参加运动而设计的运动服和运动鞋，该行业在2008至2015年间实现了42%的惊人增长。最近，它的影响力开始向办公室渗透，职员们的服装变得越来越休闲，越来越重视舒适性。国际组织人力资源管理学会（The Society for Human Resource Management）追踪了允许雇员每天穿休闲服上班的雇主数量，结果发现，这一比例从2014年的32%增长到2016年的44%。
It’s not just trainers making their way into work uniforms. There are also suit trousers with a drawstring waist, designed to blur the lines between tracksuit bottoms and smart trousers, and perfectly conventional-looking dress shirts and jackets made with the type of hi-tech fabric that you’d usually associate with hiking or the gym.
进入职业装序列的不只是运动鞋。有的西裤也设计了松紧腰带，为的是模糊运动裤与时尚长裤之间的界限。甚至有一些表面看来很传统的衬衣和夹克，实际上也采用了通常只能在徒步或健身服饰中见到的高科技面料。
‘Expectations have changed’
"预期改变"
UK designer Joanna Sykes has designed her new collection entirely around this theme, referring to the look as “tracksuit suiting”. It includes tracksuit bottoms smart enough to wear with jackets and a white poplin shirt that fastens with a zip.
英国设计师乔娜·赛克斯（Joanna Sykes）曾经围绕这一主题设计过一组全新的服装，她将那种样式称作"运动正装"，包括可以跟夹克搭配的时尚运动裤，以及配有拉链的白色府绸衬衫。
“This athleisure thing,” Sykes says, “I don’t see it as a trend but more of a permanent lifestyle shift. More and more people are working remotely and on the move, and expectations of a woman’s uniform in the workplace have changed. People want to feel more comfortable, but they also want to look smart.”
"我不觉得运动休闲是一种潮流，"赛克斯说，"我认为这是生活方式的一种永久性变化。远程工作的人越来越多，而人们对女性职业装的预期也已经改变。人们希望穿着更加舒服，但又不失时尚。"
Professional clothing needs to be increasingly functional and versatile, Sykes says, so “you can style [an item] in a lot of different ways, and it isn’t a ball of creases when you take it out of your suitcase.” The most popular items in her collection, she says, are the luxe tracksuits.
赛克斯表示，职业装的功能性和多样性需要提高，这样"你就可以用很多不同的方式设计一件东西，把它从行李箱里拿出来的时候也不会满是褶皱。"她表示，她设计的最受欢迎的系列就是奢侈品运动服。
‘Performance professional’
"性能职业装"
Not everyone can get away with wearing a tracksuit to work, of course, and Cotter advises her clients to pay a certain amount of attention to the usual attire of their clients or bosses when deciding how formally to dress.
当然，并非所有人都可以穿运动服上班，而考特也建议她的客户在决定究竟应该穿多么正式的服装时，参考一下他们自己的客户和老板日常的穿着。
Harvard researchers have found that those who intentionally resist convention come across as competent and powerful – they call it the “red sneaker effect” – but Cotter suggests that, “if putting a look together isn’t your natural strength, then play it safe.”
哈佛大学研究人员发现，故意对抗传统的人会给人留下有能力、有权势的印象——他们称之为"红运动鞋效应"——但考特建议，"如果穿着打扮不是你的强项，那就应该谨慎求稳。"
Even traditional-looking suits are being improved by sportswear technology. Fabrics pioneered for use by athletes and explorers, or even for extreme sports, are being adapted to create workwear that is wrinkle-proof, breathable, sweat-wicking and temperature-regulating.
就连传统西装也会因为运动服技术而得到改进。最初为运动员和探险家甚至极限运动设计的面料，现在都被用来制作防皱、透气、吸汗和具备温度调节功能的职业装。
Ministry of Supply, based in Boston, Massachussetts, sells dress clothes that promise to do all of the above. Launched by Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduates after a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2012, the company sold over 75,000 products in 2016, and has surpassed that figure this year.
马萨诸塞州波士顿的Ministry of Supply公司出售的服装号称具备以上所有功能。一群麻省理工学院的研究生2012年在Kickstarter上成功众筹后创办了这家公司，他们2016年卖出的产品超过7.5万件，今年已经超过这一数字。
“We see activewear and athleisure as the gateway to what we call ‘performance professional’,” says VP of operations Brian Kennedy. He says that dress clothes have historically been “high maintenance and low performance,” adding: “our aim is to reverse that trend.” The company’s CEO Gihan Amarasiriwardena even ran a half marathon in one of their suits, to test and showcase its performance credentials.
"我们认为，运动服和运动休闲服是进入我们所谓的'高性能职业装'的大门。"运营副总裁布莱恩·肯尼迪（Brian Kennedy）说。他表示，正装历来都是"维护难、性能差。"他还补充道："我们的目标是扭转这种趋势。"该公司首席执行官吉汗·阿玛阿希里瓦德纳（Gihan Amarasiriwardena）甚至穿着他们开发的一套西装跑了半程马拉松，以此展示它的性能。
Sartorial style
着装风格
Also mixing men’s sports dress with tailoring and fashion is British brand Cottweiler. For Ben Cottrell and Matthew Dainty, the designers behind the sportswear-inspired, high-concept fashion label, it’s the fast pace of contemporary life that’s driving the trend.
英国品牌Cottweiler也将男士运动服与剪裁和时尚融为一体。这家公司以运动服为灵感来开发高度概念化的时装，而它幕后的设计师本·科特雷尔（Ben Cottrell）和马修·丹迪（Matthew Dainty）认为，这一趋势的推动力来自快节奏的现代生活。
“People need to be able to adapt quickly to various situations throughout the day,” they write in a joint email, “from the gym to work to the club, so it makes sense to soften the formality of workwear. Advances in fabric technology play a big part in this shift.”
"从健身到工作再到夜店，人们需要一天到晚快速适应各种各样的环境。"他们在联合撰写的电子邮件中写道，"所以，理应弱化职业装的正式性。面料技术的进步在这次转变中扮演了重要角色。"
This autumn sees the brand collaborate with Reebok for a collection that will combine “the technical and cultural legacy of Reebok with Cottweiler’s unique vision,” the sportswear giant said when announcing the project.
今年秋天，该品牌将与锐步合作开发一系列服装。这家体育用品巨头在宣布该项目时说，他们把"锐步的科技和文化遗产与Cottweiler的独特愿景"融合到一起。
"Sportswear is of growing importance and influence at the moment as it is reflective of the way we live our lives,” add the duo. “The function and comfort of sportswear fabrics and cuts lend themselves to fast-paced life very well.”
"运动服的重要性和影响力都在增加，因为它反映了我们的生活方式。"这两家公司还补充道，"运动服的面料和剪裁所提供的功能性和舒适度使之可以很好地适应快节奏的生活。"
“People are becoming more understanding of what clothing properties they actually need on a daily basis, such as breathability for commuting, or water repellency. Our approach is to formalise sportswear.”
"人们越来越明白自己日常真正需要哪些服装特性，例如通勤时需要透气，或者具备防水功能。我们的方法就是把运动服变成正装。"
On the womenswear front, another brand selling activewear-inspired corporate clothing is Aella. The company was founded by Yale and UCLA graduate Eunice Cho after she talked with friends about how they “hated officewear” and “dreamed of wearing yoga clothes everywhere.” Aella started with one hero product: black trousers with some stretch, in six styles.
在女装领域，还有一个名叫Aella的品牌也在销售从运动服中获得灵感的职业装。该公司由耶鲁大学和加州大学洛杉矶分校毕业生尤尼斯·周（Enice Cho）创办，她曾经跟好友谈起他们是多么"讨厌职业装"，"梦想着随时都能穿瑜伽服"。Aella首先开发了一款明星产品：带有弹性的黑裤子，共有6种款式。
The company’s slogan is “uniform for going places,” and its website makes clear that it’s aimed at women with busy schedules, who aren’t prepared to be uncomfortable for the sake of looking slick.
该公司的口号是"到处都能穿的制服"，其网站也明确表示，他们的目标客户是忙碌的女性，这些人不希望为了华而不实而牺牲服装的舒适性。
Cho describes her work as a “feminist mission,” and adds, “we should wear clothing that frees us to do whatever we want.”
尤尼斯·周认为她的工作是"女权主义者的一项使命"，她还补充道，"我们应该穿那些能让我们随心所欲做任何事情的衣服。"
If that means dashing across town after work to get to a public-speaking event after a full day at work, trainers and stretchy trousers make a lot more sense than power suits, pencil skirts and stilettos. Looking very 2017 is just a bonus.
如果能够在工作了一天之后，直接穿过小镇去参加公开演讲活动，那么运动鞋和弹力裤的确比权力套装、铅笔裙和细高跟更实用。时尚的外观只不过是一份额外的奖励罢了。