Has activewear become the new uniform for creatives in India? 

From coffee runs to school pickups, why has wearing performance wear out of workout spaces become normal? 

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Picking up your kids from school. A creative brainstorm with your social media team. A quick salon stop before your Europecation. Brunch with the girls at Kitchen Garden. Client calls from your dining table. A yoga session squeezed amid errands. These in-between moments, once tackled in denim and shirts, co-ords, or chic kurtas with linen trousers, have now become synonymous with edgy leggings, matching crop tops, snuggle tees, skorts and style-first workout sets.


Once reserved for gym rats and hardcore runners, activewear has stepped firmly into the everyday. Thanks to celebrities like Ananya Panday, Hailey Bieber, Timothée Chalamet, and Kendall Jenner, wearing workout gear to third spaces, cafés, airports, and creative meetings has not only become normalised but aspirational too. 

Catching up on the vocabulary 

While terms like activewear, athleisure, and performance wear are often used interchangeably, they actually serve distinct purposes. Performance wear is engineered for high-intensity workouts, using technical materials like moisture-wicking fabrics, compression textiles, and mesh panels for ventilation. Activewear blends comfort and function, ideal for lighter activities such as yoga, walking, or travel. Athleisure, which has been a growing fashion trend since the early 2010s, refers to stylish, fitness-inspired clothing worn far beyond the gym. Think of brands like Lululemon, Tory Sport, and Alo Yoga, which have created lounge and workwear collections with athletic undertones. But that doesn’t mean every piece is designed for performance; many aren’t even built for a full racquetball game. In fact, when wearing athleisure, the only thing you’re lifting is your matcha latte.

The story today

From Mumbai to Mangalore, creatives across India are choosing comfort-first dressing that signals productivity, sure, but also gives a subtle message that you value wellness, aspirational dressing, and are fitness-forward. Mumbai-based stylist Akshay Tyagi, who styles everyone from Janhvi Kapoor to Vijay Varma, says: “I think the activewear revolution has come from a place where exercise, health, wellness and lifestyle, all of it is now so much more integrated as opposed to just being a designated solo activity.  So I think a lot of people have switched to freelance work and are able to dictate their own dressing narratives as opposed to being stuck in following outdated norms. It’s a positive cycle.” 

Whether it’s Balenciaga’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection, where models walked the ramp in sporty neoprene bodysuits to oversized padded puffer coats paired with leggings, models with pulled-up socks on sneakers teamed with structured tops and gym bags, luxury fashion brands have been a major force in creating this shift in our attitudes towards active wear. Add to that the incessant Indian paparazzi reels that show celebrities walking in and out of their salons, script readings, date nights and matcha runs with their girls clad in their Alo Yoga leggings, Stanley cups, and cloud slides from UGG, it’s confirmed that activewear is the new streetwear.

From niche to norm

Wellness has evolved from private ritual to public identity. From Ibrahim Ali Khan showing you how he scored aces on the padel court to Hailey Bieber taking you through her 12-step nighttime skincare routine, self-care has now gained main character energy. “You're seen as more responsible, more in control of your life, if you show up in activewear,” says influencer Karma Dhingra. “It’s like a visual cue that you care about your body and mind.” For many, that visibility offers motivation to their followers, and Dhingra has over 145K who look up to her for her turmeric and ginger tonic ideas, castor oil patch recommendations, and more hacks she regularly shares on her Instagram. Dhingra often layers activewear with a linen shirt or denim jacket. “I like being ready to squeeze in a workout between meetings or errands. It keeps me going. In the mornings, when I wake up, I'm itching towards wearing activewear as opposed to anything else because  I work from home, I’m running errands around town, and always being in active wear lets me fit in a workout or a session into my schedule,” says Dhingra. 

 

One of India’s top influencers, Masoom Minawala says active wear outdoors is not just about convenience, it’s about presenting a version of oneself that feels in control, stylish, and intentional. She’s a global content-creator, a mother and an entrepreneur, and therefore dabbling in too many things in a day. “There are no lines anymore. I’m literally working, playing, working out, chilling, relaxing, all in workout wear. When I put it on, it makes me feel like I’ve got my shit together. And that’s the freaking best part of it,” she tells Harper’s Bazaar.Unlike Dhingra, Minawala is not an intentional wellness girlie, she’s a fashion-first influencer. So her idea of active wear is more functional with a dash of fashion, while the former will be spotted in her workout leotards getting coffee, on vacation, or simply relaxing in her house, Minawala, though, is invested in putting a spotlight on several homegrown fitness brands that have caught her fancy. 

The Indian market

Recognising that international activewear didn’t always align with Indian needs, Cava Athleisure, a Bengaluru-based company, started by offering solutions. “Globally, we look up to brands like Lululemon and Alo Yoga for shaping the cultural narrative around activewear. In India, however, their offerings often miss the sweet spot of cultural relevance, affordability, and sizing. Our goal was to bridge this gap, offering globally inspired clothing  but adapted for Indian climates, routines, and consumers.” For example, since India is a price-sensitive market, Cava worked on that aspect of their brand. They also have trademarked a signature fabric called ADPT™, which translates to super stretchy fabric that’s never sweaty and is butter-smooth to the touch. 

Mumbai-based Akshay Khubchandani, who founded Bird Eye, a favourite every Pilates girlie swears by, says his team has been adapting to changing cultural cues. “Athleisure is no longer gym-bound. It’s worn to cafés, airports, even casual office settings, and we're designing to provide that style, functionality, and versatility.” 

Interestingly, much of the growth is coming from smaller towns. “Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets are driving surprising volumes. Consumers want comfort and simplicity, but also aspirational silhouettes and bold yet wearable colour palettes,” he adds. So the brand has been actively designing capsule collections for India’s growing padel and pickleball communities, further proving that fitness culture is shaping aesthetics from the grassroots up. “Another significant trend is the rise in women-led fitness—Pilates, yoga and aerial workouts. This is shaping consumer demand for elegant, comfortable and functional activewear.” 

Khubchandani thinks athleisure is still growing and is seamlessly transitioning from the gym to coffee shops, airports and casual office environments. But he believes this trend is still in its early stages in India. “But the potential is undeniable. Over the next two to three years, athleisure is expected to become a daily staple,” he says. 

Mittal pitches in, saying, “We currently serve 3.8 per cent of a 1.5 crore audience in India, with top cities including Bangalore, Mumbai, and Delhi. But traction in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities has surged in the past two years.”   They credit digital access and wellness adoption as the reason behind this demand beyond metros. 

Another brand tapping into this new rhythm of aspiration and authenticity is Life & Jam, co-founded by Anushi Haresh Jain. “We’re not just selling activewear,” she says. “We’re solving for sweat, shape, and self-expression in a country where most global brands haven’t even asked the right questions.” Their Mumbai-based brand’s growth has been organic, with over 100 million views across platforms and 300+ top creators repping the brand without any paid push. “We’re quickly becoming the go-to premium activewear for Gen Z—not by chance, but by love,” says Jain. 


Though Tier-1 metros like Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore remain top markets, Jain says demand from places like Guwahati, Indore, Pune, and Surat has spiked dramatically in the last year. Their secret? Hyper-local community building through WhatsApp conversion flows, regional creator collabs, and gym trainer affiliate networks. “Building trust in India is hyper-local—and we want to win, city by city,” she adds. 

While global names like Nike or Adidas still dominate brand recall, Life & Jam’s competitive edge lies in designing for Indian realities—products tailored for tropical heat and real Indian body types. “Bottoms that don’t fit like churidars,” Anushi laughs. Their custom fabrics, like SnugLife and Free Fit, power repeat orders and fuel the brand’s storytelling-led growth. 

For Aastha Rattha, founder and creative director of Pace Active, Indian athleisure is not mimicking the West, it’s evolving with its own voice. “India’s not imitating; it’s innovating. Our climate demands breathability and sweat-wicking fabrics. Our designs must fit both movement and monsoons,” she says.  It’s clear then that Indian fitness wear is fueled by the choice of materials. Rattha adds, “Wellness in India isn’t new, it’s deeply ancestral. From yoga to Ayurveda, the body has always been a sacred space. What’s changing is the aesthetic language around what we wear. Today, even athleisure in the West is slowly moving back to an emphasis on natural fibres, and that's something that always went hand in hand with wellness in India,” she adds. 

What makes the Indian market unique is that there is no such thing as “standard size.” Raena Ambani, co-founder of Mumbai-based Terractive says, “Because there’s no “standard Indian.” Therefore, we focus on community-led design processes. The Cuddle Tee that you see today on our website, it’s version 6.0 (at least). We listened to every DM, every try-on fail, every “sleeve feels off” and kept tweaking. Arm curve, waist cut, overall drape, things keep evolving. We don’t believe in following a catch-all size chart; instead, we’ve worked hard to build one with our customers. This changes per fabric and per silhouette based on how we want it to look and feel like on someone.” 

How sustainable is this choice?

Understanding that they are catering to a generation that values inability over other purchasing frills, brands are offering different valuable to their website. While Terraactive gives free repairs for life, “because sustainability isn’t a campaign, it’s a commitment,” says Ambani. She adds, “There’s a popular misconception that sustainable production comes from recycled fabrics; however, the true metric of measurable and impactful sustainability comes from conscious manufacturing, and environment-friendly dye processing, treatment and discharge.” 

Wearing it right

If you’re unsure how to style activewear beyond the gym, Tyagi recommends layering and balancing structure. “Pair leggings with a blazer or trench. Mix textures. Keep the logos subtle,” he suggests. Some more cardinal rules include: 

— Do invest in matte, sculpted basics—leggings, tank tops, jackets.
— Don’t go head-to-toe in a matching set unless you break it up with structure.
— Do add clean accessories—minimal sneakers, sharp totes.
— Don’t treat it like loungewear. Athleisure should feel styled, not sloppy.

The final stretch 

Whether it’s the put-together “Pilates girl” aesthetic, the social cachet of self-care, or the simple allure of buttery-soft fabrics, activewear has claimed its place in the Indian fashion mainstream and is here to stay for now. As Minawala puts it, “It doesn’t matter if I make it to Pilates or not. Just the fact that I’ve worn it is a streak of optimism. It’s a life hack.”

TOP PICKS

Bird eye ALIGN SPORTS BRA, ₹2,099

Whether you're heading to a padel match or running errands in style, this sleek sports bra is your go-to. Pair it with a pleated mini tennis skirt, high socks, and a slicked-back ponytail for that clean court-side aesthetic. Want a touch more coverage? Throw on a breezy tie-up top. Add a grey duffle bag, oval sunglasses, or even swap in baggy sweats and a cap for a more laid-back vibe.

Life and jam Co-ord set, Soft Girl Era Sports Bra + Shorts Set in Blush Pink, ₹3,498

Effortlessly cute and coffee-run approved, this pink co-ord set is made for your morning matcha stroll. Style it with Birkenstocks and high socks for peak “it-girl”. Layer on an oversized grey sweatshirt and you're good to go.

Terractive Activity Skort - Bubblegum Pink, ₹1,999


This bubblegum-pink skort brings the perfect pop of colour to any brunch look. Dress it up with a crisp white bodysuit or shirt, kitten heels with delicate tie-up details, gold minimal jewellery, and a structured shoulder bag. Comfy, polished, and undeniably cute.

Cava Auburn Seamless Cinched Activewear Set, ₹2,998


Cava's ribbed, full-length co-ord set in a rich burgundy tone is flattering and fresh—the only one of its kind on the market. Wear your hair down with a grey headband, toss on some silver hoops, and go hands-free with a cross-body fanny pack. A power look with zero effort.

 All images: Getty Images, the brands

 

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