Game On
Working It: How to Look Fierce On & Off the Field
From planking to picking up dinner, more & more women are opting to dress up by dressing down. The athleisure trend is on the tip of everyone’s tongue & on the bodies of fit fashionistas everywhere. “We like to call it
says Tamara Hill-Norton, the London-based founder & designer of Sweaty Betty, a chic athleisure line.‘sport-luxe’
,”
Tamara Hill-Norton’s sweaty-chic togs are taking over the athleisure trend. Credit: Sweaty Betty
The collection features pieces for all kinds of female athletes, from swimmers to snowboarders, who like to look as good on the way to their sweat sessions as they do during them.
You don’t find time, you make time.
And although Hill-Norton says “Americans are about 10 to 15 years ahead on the trend,”
her distinctly British take on layering & unexpected cuts (think fluorescent bra top under a reversible open-backed running tank) is placing Sweaty Betty ahead of the pack.
Sweaty Betty started with a turn of luck. When faced with redundancy, Hill-Norton decided to focus on the positive & transform her two passions – fitness & fashion – into a career. And so, she set out to redefine the UK’S activewear market. She wanted to “create workout wear that’s more than something to sweat in, it’s a tool for transformation.”
When deciding on a name to represent her vision, Hill-Norton wanted to challenge conventions & make people look twice. ‘Sweaty Betty’
was born from the idea of juxtaposing UK slang for “cool girl”
(Betty) with a not-so-glamorous word (Sweaty).
Sweaty Betty opened its first store in London’s chic Notting Hill neighborhood. At first, they carried only outside brands, but by 2006 Hill-Norton felt sure she had found an untapped niche. “There was a gap in the market for gorgeous ski wear for women that was also affordable,”
she says.“But I didn’t want to do anything under my own store’s name until I could make it world class.”
The Sweaty Betty-branded line eventually expanded into running, swimming, yoga, dancing & studio class wear—but only once Hill-Norton knew exactly what her customers were looking for.
High-tech & high-fashion leggings designed to take you from barre class to the bar. Credit: Sweaty Betty
The key to pulling off the sport-luxe look is mixing fabrics & silhouettes.
So what were they looking for? Leggings, leggings, leggings! Two models are particularly hard to keep in stock: The Zero-Gravity style, a “bum-sculpting superhero made of Italian fabric, which completely transforms you. It makes you feel so confident,”
says Hill-Norton. The other is the Urdhva, which is high-waisted, mesh at the knees & reversible. This September Sweaty Betty will debut Power Leggings, which are also a compression style, but have more stretch than the Zero-Gravity version.“You can do anything in them,”
says Hill-Norton. Meaning not just yoga, but whatever life throws at you on your way to & from the studio.
Which brings us to layering. According to Hill-Norton, the key to pulling off the sport-luxe look is mixing fabrics & silhouettes. For example, if you’re wearing sneakers, do so with a wide-leg track pant in a silk fabric. Or try loose track pants with a fitted crop top. Or a bomber jacket over a brightly colored bra top. It shouldn’t be a head-to-toe fitness look, but rather an easy “chuck on-able”
ensemble that looks as good in a gym class as it does at the coffee bar.
When she’s not designing her line, Hill-Norton can be found (what else?) exercising. On Mondays after work, Hill-Norton & her colleagues go running as a group. On Tuesdays, she swims. She also bikes to & from work & regularly takes Pilates or barre classes. How does she find time to squeeze it all in? “You don’t find time, you make time,”
notes Hill-Norton. That means, don’t try to schedule dinner with her on swim nights because she’s already got a date—with the pool.