Embrace the Future: Vintage Sportswear is Back!

As desires for comfort, quality and sustainability continue to dominate current conversations around the future of consumer buying habits, those growing tired of the tightly-fitting silhouettes and earth-toned polyester blends that make up the majority of modern athletic clothing are turning to secondhand sources to help build a vintage wardrobe of workout wear from the ground up. A Preference for Natural Fibers The primary draw to this trend of pre-loved pieces, perfect for one’s daily exercise routine, goes beyond the always-trending visual aesthetics of vintage styles, silhouettes and colorways from roughly two decades ago—no matter the current year—and has more to do with the physical qualities that these garments possess. Aiding many of these now coveted clothing items in their longevity and current popularity is, above all, their fabric makeup. Naturally derived textiles such as wool, linen and the dominating cotton have not only captured consumer attention in recent years, but are the driving factor behind the growth of vintage workout attire. “Over the past two years, I have seen interest in natural fabrics steadily move from a niche interest to a more macro trend across fashion,” said Molly Rooyakkers, a fashion researcher and data analyst who shares trend information and statistics on her social media accounts and Substack newsletter under the username @style.analytics, in an interview. “I think that it first emerged after the pandemic through growing openness to thrifting and vintage shopping, alongside a fatigue with fast 2020-era microtrends, as well as a renewed focus on ‘investment pieces’ (when we were all obsessed with ‘quiet luxury’),” she said. “More recently, this conversation has expanded into categories that were traditionally dominated by synthetics, like activewear.” A statistic from Cotton Incorporated’s 2025 Lifestyle Monitor Survey, an annual study that most recently interviewed 13,026 consumers across thirteen countries, concluded that “Three in four (75 percent) consumers prefer clothing made of cotton, cotton blends or denim, overwhelmingly ahead of manmade fibers like polyester, spandex and rayon.” In the same survey, results found that “Over half (59 percent) of global consumers are willing to pay more for clothing made from natural fibers such as cotton, citing comfort (66 percent) and quality (63 percent) as key reasons.” This preference for natural fibers, one that connects almost all subscribers of the secondhand workout wear trend and even those who prefer to shop new, stems from three major factors: comfort, eco-consciousness and financial investment. Because of the growing buying power of Gen Z consumers—a demographic of health-conscious consumers dedicated to sustainably sourcing clothing despite current economic hardships—the majority of shoppers are seeking out garments made from comfortable materials that are better for the environment and worth investing in due to their long-lasting quality. “Personally, just from what I've seen, through conversations across social media and different fashion spaces, people want to get what they're paying for,” said Arbela Capas, the writer behind The Changing Room Substack newsletter, in an interview. “I think fashion consumers especially have felt a little bit duped recently after realizing that expensive doesn't always mean quality,” she said. “Asking, what are our clothes really made of? What does it mean to have a well-constructed garment made of good materials that lasts? And it obviously ties in with the whole rejection of over-consumerism, and people trying to be more intentional about their materials.” Trend Adaptations As for the future of this trend, maintaining momentum will be the key to sustainable growth within the natural trend cycle. As it stands, the popularity of secondhand workout wear exists exclusively within the vintage retail space. However, the features that make up the trend—natural fibers, loose silhouettes and bright colorways—are predicted to trickle up within the fashion landscape and begin to not only saturate the mainstream market, but inspire runway adaptations. “We are already seeing early signals in how brands communicate, such as marketing garments heavily around the word ‘cotton,’ even when they are still blended with synthetics,” said Rooyakkers. “As consumer literacy around fabrics increases, brands will be pushed to make those claims more meaningful. I expect to see more collections that foreground natural fibers, including 100% cotton workout sets and collections, as well as more eclectic, mix-and-match styling inspired by thrifting culture.” Similarly, Capas predicted both high-end, heritage brands and mass-market retailers will begin to pull from and reimagine their archive of early 2000s and 90s athletic silhouettes, and work them into modern ready-to-wear collections—with the brands who authentically reimagine these styles using high-quality materials, natural fibers and traditionaly-cut patterns earning consumer affection while those who produce cheap renderings for purely aesthetic popularity underperform in comparison. “I definitely see it,” said Capas. “It's just going to be interesting how.”