Lucie Loves… Fitness // Adidas x Stylist event with Hemsley + Hemsley, Life Coach Beth Reacher and singer Foxes
I recently attended an event put on by Stylist Magazine and Adidas. A gaggle of young women, including myself, were given health and lifestyle treats in the form of Hemsley + Hemsley super-food smoothies and enjoyed a guided meditation session with Life Coach Beth Reacher.
This was followed with a bit of light pampering and a photo shoot with their well-equipped hair and makeup team. The evening was in celebration of the new Adidas Energy Boost running shoes, and was rounded off rather nicely with an intimate Q&A session with hot singer of the moment, Foxes, the face of their latest sport-luxe campaign. Foxes giggled her way through questions and spoke about how she often runs to old school garage, with her hand holding onto her famous fringe to stop it from messing up during a workout.
The evening got me thinking about how brands are really starting to up their game when it comes to appealing to female audiences.
“Think differently about sport."
For the past couple of years this has definitely been the most tangible key message, for me, from top sportswear brands, like Adidas and Nike, circulating around the globe.
Attention, and better yet, a major investment, is finally being paid to ensure that the fairer sex feel confident, strong, happy and healthy when it comes to sport.
I believe major collaborations between music+fashion+fitness are the recipe to success when it comes to reaching new audiences.
Over the past couple of years that most successful celeb pairings for me have included: Ellie Goulding and Jessie J for Nike and now Foxes collaboration with Adidas.
By tapping into an existing fanbase and/or magazine readership, savvy-sportwear brands are essentially opening up their sweetshop of opportunities to new millennials, and at the same time dusting off any old-fashioned preconceptions of the brand that may have built up over the years.
By stepping into this delightful new digital and fashion-led territory they are empowering new younger female audiences. Brands are moving with the times, taking onboard ever-changing consumer habits and creating brand new socially integrated campaigns that reach people who have, until now, been disengaged with sport in general.
The rise of strong female athletes like Jessica Ennis-Hill and Rebecca Adlington have certainly helped champion the change in perspective of women in sport but there is still so much that can be and needs to be done.
A great campaign spearheading exactly that was brought to my attention recently. My Kit and Me is a collaboration between Virgin Active, Lexie Sport (one of my favourite Young British Designers), the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation and a school in Dorset. It’s aim is to empower teenage girls to design their perfect PE kits, as part of the Active Inspiration campaign. Amazing!
Photography © Lucie Kerley