Did you ever heard of “Athleisure” style?

Me personally, I did not until recently…and this is precisely why, as many times happens when I find something curious, I decided to write an article about it! xD

The word “athleisure” appeared for the first time (believe it or not) way back in a 1976 shoe advertisement in the “El Paso Herald Post” (an aftenoon newspaper based in El Paso – Texas).

The ad was for “Athleisure Shoes by Dunham.”

Essentially just sneakers…Nobody thought much of it!

The word resurfaced in 1979 in a “Nation’s Business” article about fitness apparel, then quietly disappeared again for decades.

Then, it took until 2016 for Merriam-Webster (an American dictionary) to officially add it to the dictionary, defining it as “casual clothing designed to be worn both for exercising and for general use.”

Forty years from a shoe ad to the dictionary… when you’re talking of a slow burn! eheh

And then? After 2016? Boom! Explosion!

Today, the global “athleisure market” is a market worth approximately $400 billion, and it is projected to nearly double to $900 billion by 2033! 

For context, that is bigger than the entire GDP of countries like Austria or Norway (what???!).

Not bad for a word that started life selling boots in Texas.

And one of the places where this fashion trend is most visible?

The airport.

Let’s dive right in! 🙂

Athleisure Style at the Airport:

5 Reasons It Took Over 🙂

1. Comfort Has Become

Non-Negotiable

For decades, there was an unspoken rule: you dressed up to fly.

Blazers, real trousers, proper shoes… check out photos from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s...people was dressing up very well as taking a flight was considered an “important” event!

That idea is basically extinct now.

The world of flying in recent years has dramatically changed (and so did the world of giving a f*** about what other people think apparently 🙂

To give you an idea, the world’s longest commercial flight today is Singapore Airlines’ route from Singapore to New York: around 19 hours in the air!

Anyone who’s attempted that in stiff denim knows exactly why the attitudes to flight dresscode changed 😉

Stretch materials, breathable fabrics, and relaxed silhouettes have made it possible to survive long-haul travel without looking like you’ve been through a war by the time you land… and famous brands are surely riding the wave!

An example could be collaborations like NikeSKIMS (launched in February 2025, merging Nike’s performance DNA with SKIMS’ body-inclusive approach) which are pushing athleisure into premium design territory!

Soft, flexible, wrinkle-resistant. The kind of outfit that handles a 6am security line, a four-hour delay in Frankfurt, and still looks intentional when you arrive. That’s what athleisure is going after!

2. It Actually Looks Good Now…

and That Changes Everything!

Ten years ago, athleisure meant mismatched gym kit and beaten-up trainers.

Functional? Sure.

A fashion moment? Absolutely not.

As an Italian, I still remember the cringy pairings!

What changed today though, is that activewear brands invested seriously in design!

Cuts got sharper….Fabrics got better…. Coordinated sets replaced the chaotic gym-bag aesthetic!

Premium trainers (like Nike, New Balance, On Running, Salomon, Hoka, just to name a few) became genuine style objects, as culturally loaded as any luxury sneaker.

The global athletic footwear market alone is now worth over $100 billion (2024 figures).

Add a structured coat and a few accessories to a hoodie-and-leggings combo and it reads as deliberate, modern, polished — and not anymore like you just rolled out of bed xD

Nobody wants to look like they gave up I guess…

And “athleisure”, done well, looks like you didn’t have to try.

Which is arguably the hardest thing to pull off in fashion 😉

3. Versatility Is

the Real Superpower

Here’s what no other trend has managed to do quite as well: athleisure works across almost every context a traveler moves through!

On the plane, you look smart casual, with a sporty, athletic vibe.,

At the hotel when check-in isn’t until 3pm, you can drop you luggage and take a comfy walk around an unfamiliar city on day one.

At a casual dinner, you can swap couples of accessory and that is not that bad either!

This multi-context flexibility is gold for anyone trying to travel comfortably and efficiently — and especially for the growing number of travelers going carry-on only 🙂

The logic is “fewer pieces that do multiple jobs”: Less to carry, less to think about! 🙂

4. Celebrities Made It Aspirational —

Social Media Made It the Default

After we talked about all the pros, let’s get back to some recent history!

Yeas, because athleisure didn’t conquer airport fashion purely on its merits alone…it had significant cultural help along the way!

Airport paparazzi shots of celebrities in coordinated sets and pristine trainers have been circulating online for years: Beyoncé, Kendall Jenner, Zendaya…the off-duty airport look became its own fashion category, endlessly photographed and shared!

Social media accelerated everything.

“Airport OOTD” apparently is now a real and genuinely popular search category, with millions of posts across Instagram and Pinterest consistently dominated by one aesthetic (in what age we live you might wonder!).

You can probably guess which one 😉

What was once a celebrity off-duty look became the mainstream travel uniform… and it happened faster than almost any other fashion shift in recent memory!

5. It’s Here to Stay —

and Here’s Why That Makes Sense

As long-haul travel continues to grow and flight times increase, the demand for clothing that comfortably handles real journey conditions will only get stronger.

Think about it: the average flight delay in Europe in 2023 was over 20 minutes, and anyone who’s spent a night curled up across three airport chairs (*cough* *cough*), knows that the outfit you chose that morning matters a lot more than you thought it would 😉

The best airport outfit is the one you stop thinking about after you put it on, the one that gets you through security without too much hassle, and the one that keeps you comfortable, warm and cozy for hours at 9.000meters above.

Athleisure (if done properly), does exactly that,,,and that’s a brief very few other style categories can honestly match 😉

Conclusions 🙂

And here we are at the end! 🙂

From a 1976 shoe ad in El Paso to a $400 billion global industry, the athleisure movement has had quite the journey. And nowhere is that more visible than in airports, where comfort, style, versatility, and celebrity influence have all collided into one very dominant aesthetic.

Have you fully converted to athleisure for travel, or are you still loyal to the jeans-and-blazer school of airport dressing? xD

Drop your thoughts in the comments below — always curious to hear what people actually wear on long flights!

Let us know in the comments! 😀

And if you want more tips on travelling smarter and more comfortably, don’t miss our guide on travelling happy and healthy long-term. See you in the next one! 🙂