How Yoga Pants Became High-Tech Sportswear
Stretch was only the beginning. Fabric engineering turned simple yoga leggings into performance gear—and helped build the athleisure business along the way.
Athletes World
• Yoga pants have evolved from simple stretchwear into high-tech sportswear, using advanced fabrics and construction to improve comfort, movement and performance.
A pair of yoga pants may look simple, but modern leggings have been engineered around problems most people never think about: Will they turn sheer when stretched? Will the seams rub? Will the waistband stay put? Will the fabric stretch repeatedly without losing its shape?
Solving those problems helped transform yoga clothing from basic workout wear into a major sportswear business.
The foundation came from spandex, the highly elastic fibre developed by DuPont chemist Joseph Shivers in the late 1950s. (The LYCRA Company) Decades later, yoga-focused companies pushed stretch clothing further. Lululemon, founded in Vancouver in 1998, was among the brands that helped turn yoga apparel into its own technical category. (Lululemon)
Solving those problems helped transform yoga clothing from basic workout wear into a major sportswear business.
The foundation came from spandex, the highly elastic fibre developed by DuPont chemist Joseph Shivers in the late 1950s. (The LYCRA Company) Decades later, yoga-focused companies pushed stretch clothing further. Lululemon, founded in Vancouver in 1998, was among the brands that helped turn yoga apparel into its own technical category. (Lululemon)
