Athleisure’s new guard: Shop for cosy, comfy fitness gear at these three Singapore brands

SINGAPORE – Entering your soft era? The athleisure of today may not be what you are familiar with from the pandemic boom of ultra-compressive workout wear. Whether you identify as a “pilates princess” or a pickleball nerd, here are three local brands redefining functional comfort in and out of the gym.

Cheak

A boutique in Ion Orchard is quite the dream way to celebrate a five-year anniversary. Co-founders of activewear brand Cheak (

cheak.com

), Ms Tiffany Chng and Ms Olivia Yiong, never expected their pandemic baby to hit this milestone so soon.

Marking the first local activewear brand to join the luxury mall, the 893 sq ft unit at B3-57 is also Cheak’s first standalone retail store, where you can touch and try the brand’s signature proprietary fabrics, BaseFlex and CoolLuxe, engineered for activity and lounging respectively.

Look out for a new design highlight called the Define Invisible Scrunch: a blink-and-miss-it scrunch in a bra, or at the back of bottoms to gently sculpt the booty and subtly highlight the woman’s body – “to add a feminine touch without being too sexy”, says Ms Yiong.

To celebrate the store which opened on Oct 24, Cheak has launched The Big Flex, a birthday collection of best-selling designs in a refreshed palette: cereal (butter yellow), gun metal (grey), sesame (black), truffle (chocolate brown) and flow (baby pink).

Think Strappy Bras ($55) and matching Define Shorts ($65); and for leisure pieces, the Cozy Hoodie ($75) and City Wide Leg Pants ($79) in its ultra-soft CoolLuxe fabric that could give American lifestyle brand Juicy Couture’s 1990s velour tracksuits a run for their money.

The founders have also brought back Cheak’s tennis-appropriate Polo Bra ($59) and Polo Skirt ($69), as well as Pilates Crew Socks ($20). They will launch a pilates socks blind box for the holiday season.

With purchases of $100 or more, receive a free limited-edition tote till Nov 5, and pilates socks from Nov 6 to 15. Until Nov 15, enjoy discounts of up to 20 per cent on its regular collection.

Following the opening of its Ion Orchard store, Cheak is accelerating its retail strategy and launching pop-ups in Kuala Lumpur and the Philippines within the year.

Rise Rise

The brand was founded by Ms Pirat Kongkapirat, one-quarter of the team behind home-grown women’s fashion brand The Editor’s Market. Rise Rise was born from a slower, more introspective place to explore a different rhythm of design.

Launched online (

riserisestore.com

) in January, the focus is on loungewear, everyday apparel and activewear – “pieces you’d wear for moving, lounging and just living in the moment”.

Its loungewear includes drawstring trousers ($69) and matching flowy blouses ($69), camis ($49) and elevated pyjama sets ($59 to $89). For activewear, think stylish sports bras ($55 to $59) that double as brunch tops, wide leg pants ($69) and trendy unitards ($75).

The rise of pilates and paddle sports has redefined what movement looks like and made it “softer, more social, and more about rhythm than repetition”, Ms Pirat says. The result is a demand for clothes that feel “personal yet effortless”.

“We design around movement moods more than sports; how the body feels when it’s aware but not performing. This means silhouettes that flex and breathe, like tanks that don’t ride up during stretches and shorts that sit right when you twist. Ultimately, each piece is designed to move through life, not just a sport.”

Looking ahead, customers can look forward to unexpected pairings, like a sports bra that looks good under a crisp shirt, or shorts that belong both in a workout class and at a cafe, she adds.

“We’ve also been studying the idea of ‘quiet function’ – seams that disappear, waistbands that adjust with your breath and fabrics that age beautifully. The inspiration is always the same: clothes that make movement feel like second nature.”

Saints & Sports

After entrepreneur Ethel Neo packed up her life in Singapore and headed Down Under, she realised true luxury, for her, meant slowing down.

The founder of jewellery brand Eclat by Oui relocated with her husband and two sons aged four and six to Sydney, Australia, in July.

As a homemaker, she traded vest tops for cosy sweaters – and this inspired her to launch a clothing label where she could design pieces for women wanting the same.

“The move changed my pace. I found myself looking for clothes that could move with me through school pick-ups, grocery runs, walks by the beach and long-haul flights. It redefined what luxury meant – it’s no longer about labels and noise, but about that sense of ease and comfort. I wanted to create a brand that reflected the season of life I was in,” says Ms Neo, 33.

Saints & Sports launched online (

saintsandsports.com

) in August with two main fabrics: SaintsWeight 450, a heavyweight French terry made from a blend of 90 per cent cotton and 10 per cent polyester; and SaintsSkin, a buttery nylon-spandex athletic knit for leggings ($95). The SaintsWeight 450 pieces include sweatshirts ($135), polo sweaters ($145) and lounge shorts ($95).

Ms Neo aims to fill the gap between athleisure’s “sporty silhouettes that can sometimes feel too performance-driven, lacking timelessness” and “top-tier luxury lifestyle brands, which can be too aspirational and out of reach for everyday living”.

A day in her new life begins in her brand’s leggings and cropped sweatshirt – to drop the kids off and have breakfast, before returning to work from home. In the afternoon, she throws on a cardigan to head out for errands, pick up the kids and go for a walk by the beach.

She recently launched a children’s line, Saints & Sports Junior ($95 to $105), after her elder son asked to wear the pieces.