Running Fashion Roundup #34
London Marathon Anti Expos, On x Pleasures, and Satisfy OFF-ROAD first look
Quick Hits
Tigst Assefa (adidas) broke the women’s marathon World Record at London, putting down a 2:15:50 in the Adidas Evo Pro 1
The London Marathon was highlighted by extra-Expo activity from Nike, New Balance, and Run.Limited (see all the events at my event list)
adidas released the latest generation racer, the Evo Pro 2, which curiously many of their pros did not wear.
Got a full look at SATISFY’s OFF-ROAD (Summer 2025) collection
London Marathon Popups
Seems like brands spent a bit more budget on their activations for London than Boston—London being more of a central event than a high stakes race for the sub elites like Boston. The trend over the past few years for popups (and third/fourth wave running stores) has been establishing multi-use spaces. This goes beyond running stores and running popups – every brand is creating some sort of vibey place where you want to hang out as much as stop in to shop. Rapha has been doing this for years, pairing their cycling stores with in-house cafes.
New Balance opened up it’s “Townhouse,” renting 14 Cavendish, W1, a luxury popup space in Marleybone used for Apple TV premiers, Dior show parties, and other high brow invite-only events. The Palladian style building has high molded ceilings, shabby-chique stripped down walls, and stark interior architecture.
Meanwhile, new wave running store Run.Limited created their own special popup in Shoreditch working directly with New Balance and Bandit. The cool, modern looking expo space featured some up and coming brands alongside the big ticket sponsors.
These indirect marketing efforts both empower the local stores, target niche communities, and signal that brands are “with it”. They’re effectively outsourcing some of their marketing spend to local shops who are closer to the pulse – grassroots marketing. Speaking of which, On did that again.
Bandit’s London Marathon Collection
Bandit’s London collection felt far more connected to the city visually compared to the Boston collection and are more striking in my opinion. It featured “special ciré print technique and English-inspired embroidery detailing,” read: crests, roses, and chiseled serif typeface. Sure it looks a little bit like a Diptyque candle, but I like Diptyque candles. The quote itself “as true as fair…” feels vague Shakespearean and sounds timeless…but I don’t necessarily know what to make of that. The pull quotes on the last few Bandit collections from Boston 2024 and 2025 also didn’t hit for me. Overall, impressed with this one.
Upcoming Releases and Events
Keeping it Local: On x PLEASURES x The Loop
On teamed up with streetwear label PLEASURES and beloved Austin running store, The Loop Running Supply on a capsule collection. This isn’t the first time On’s partnered with a shop – they previously did a collab with French store Distance. While these collabs don’t necessarily feel super tied into PLEASURES nor The Loop, it’s good to see at least their design feedback and marketing incorporated. Coming May 8th.
I’m loving the trend of brands collaborating with local running stores. It feels akin to what Nike SB did in the early 2000s (s/o Scott Gravatt). Many shops got to work with the brand on their own limited edition sneaker which was both authentic to the store and community and also brought the shops wider popularity. Often the designs themselves had branding aspects pulled from the store’s own merch. Concepts famously made their Nike SB Lobster sneaker, which was true to their Boston origins.
Beyond the store collabs, this is the most recent streetwear overlap we’ve seen with running on a current running shoe (not a throwback).
Whatever your theory behind this shift away from the swagless runner archetype of yore – in James estimation “everybody kind of elevated their own style over the past decade, largely because of social media” – the shift is undeniable. We’re in the midst of a blurring of the lines between streetwear and activewear.
Super shoe battles: adidas, Asics, Puma
The $500 adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2 releases in limited amounts today, April 29th. Probably mostly online here. This colorway doesn’t do it for me and I don’t need a $500 racer, especially when I haven’t seen every adidas marathoner wear it yet. It’s thicker, lighter, and supposedly has more energy return.
I’m more excited about Asic’s new FF Leap technology, a new super light foam they’ll be adding to their racing shoes and seen below on a prototype Asics MetaSpeed Sky, likely the same one Clayton Young wore. Puma however, is the only one with actually proven efficiency result so far after lab testing at UMass.
Heartbreak takes Santa Monica
A new challenger arrives in Los Angeles—Heartbreak of Boston and Chicago is opening their fourth store in Los Angeles in Santa Monica. The west side of LA doesn’t have a store per se. LSD and Renegade are both near each other, but quite far from Santa Monica. Store opens May 1st!
SATISFY OFF ROAD Summer 2025 collection
OFF-ROAD is dropping at the end of this week. The collection will add some of their special seasonal colors and graphics to their MothTech and AuraLite tees. The release will also debut two new developments: the AuraLite™ Pleated T-Shirt, designed with a breezy pleating, and the PowerSilk™ 9” Half Tights, which has targeted compression for muscle support on long efforts.
The AuraLite™ Pleated T-Shirt uses an engineered pleating process popularized by Issey Miyake to create an ultra-breezy feel. This isn’t something I’ve seen done much for performance apparel (Nike women’s Aeroswift shorts, although seems largely aesthetic) and appreciate SATISFY innovating on their silhouettes and fabrics.
Cyclists 🤝 Runners
Not that new, but uncommon until this year! May 2nd, Renegade is holding an unsanctioned alleycat-style relay of 1 runner and 1 cyclist. The race co-sponsored by On and Attaquer. Renegade recently has both started hosting rides and carrying cycling apparel, leaning into the multi-sport endurance space.
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Love that your mind goes to Dyptique while I’m out there furiously googling fonts
Dope write-up!