HALFWAY THROUGH A mat pilates class at Equinox in San Francisco, I’m sweating my ass off. I climb the stair stepper regularly. I lift heavy. Yet every time the instructor tells me to fold forward, I discover I’m about as bendable as one of my corgis’ rubber fetch sticks.
Then I catch myself in the mirror. My hamstrings could use some work. My fit? Not so much. I’m wearing a lavender shirt-and-shorts set from the new Old Navy Sport, and in one of the few rooms in San Francisco where people actually dress up, I don’t feel out of place. I came to the city where Old Navy is based to find out whether its activewear could compete with the pricier gear around me. On looks, it’s already holding its own.
Stylish workout clothes that cost north of $100 apiece are easy to come by (and we’ve tested and endorsed plenty of them). Finding gear that looks great, costs a lot less, and can keep up with your workouts is a much tougher ask. Old Navy Sport, a new sub-brand launching today, takes a swing at it, giving the company’s longtime activewear lineup a new home and a lot more personality. I took several outfits through a weekend of workouts in San Francisco to see whether the clothes could keep up.
The Sweat Set
I walked to Equinox in a Bounce Fleece half-zip and matching sweats, and they ended up being one of my favorite looks from the trip. Bounce Fleece is Old Navy’s smooth spacer fabric, made mostly from polyester and rayon with a little spandex. It has the coziness I want from fleece, without the scratchiness or stuffiness I sometimes get from traditional hoodies and sweatpants. For San Francisco’s perpetual spring weather, that’s a sweet spot — and I’d wear the set through New York City’s shoulder season, too.
The pants have a little flare to them, which Gen Z guys love, but they’re not so baggy that a millennial like me, who’s still clinging to tailored trousers, feels swallowed by them. It’s a versatile cut that works whether you’re heading to class or running errands afterward, and at Old Navy’s price point, that kind of everyday wearability makes the value case easy to make.
