Premium U.S. sports and athletic apparel brand Athleta (part of Gap Inc.) has unveiled a new women's fitness collection designed with proprietary fabrics for high-intensity workouts.
Athleta, known for its yoga and Pilates apparel, has developed an eight-piece "Train" collection designed to "empower women through their most intense workouts" as it looks to expand its focus to high-performance training.
The collection is the culmination of more than three years of rigorous, comprehensive wear testing on a range of women, including elite professional athletes and everyday consumers, as well as third-party lab testing to perfect fit and design, including conformability, strength, pilling, hook-and-loop, breathability, and moisture wicking.
The result is a high-performance training line featuring proprietary "PowerMove" performance fabrics made from recycled polyester derived from post-consumer plastic bottles to reduce environmental impact.
Made on a fine 50-gauge double knit machine, PowerMove has an ultra-lightweight, breathable and fast-drying interlocking construction, while providing optimal compression through vertical and horizontal compression for a supportive fit, the brand says.
The fabric is cut on a cross grain that gives her flexible compression, allowing for more vertical stretch across the body, providing support for explosive movements like box jumps and bobble jumps, making it suitable for medium to high impact workouts.
Our innovative new train collection truly fulfills Athleta's mission to empower women through movement," said Casey Schumacher, Athleta's Senior Design Director, in a statement. With this launch, Athleta continues our commitment to creating products for real women with our obsessive attention to every detail.
"We wanted to make sure we created a product where she could jump, lift, sweat and move without being distracted."
Items in the "Train" collection include the Interval Tight, which features a unique waistband design with adhesive technology that allows it to mold to the body to ensure an optimal fit, as well as the Interval Stash 7/8 Tight, Interval Stash Capri, Interval Stash Short (7-inch) and the Interval Jacket.
There's also an "Unstoppable Wool" collection for pre- and post-workout needs, including the Unstoppable Full Zip, Unstoppable Quarter Zip Vest and Unstoppable Jogger.
These pieces are made from the new proprietary "Flex Fleece" fabric, a mid-weight technical fleece made from recycled polyester and spandex that wicks sweat, dries quickly and breathes.
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