All clothing by VPL.

VPL SPRING 2014

If you live in New York or Los Angeles—or anywhere that has become exercise-centric, for that matter—you probably spend a majority of your non-office hours in something that could fall under the category of “activewear.” No matter the occasion, the easiest (i.e. most comfortable) option is generally something made of spandex and/or super-soft cotton. Thanks to brands like Lululemon, we’ve gotten used to leaving the house looking like we’re ready for SoulCycle or Core Fusion at a minute’s notice.

What happened to the days when dressing for aerobics, errands, and airports required distinct costume changes? Popping to the grocery store never necessitated haute couture, but when did it become acceptable to hit the ground with running shoes when we aren’t actually running? Well, wherever those days went, they are gone. The modern woman doesn’t have time for all of those outfit changes—but VPL makes the case that our go-go-go lifestyle needn’t come at the cost of style.

“Women want to have things that they can wear many different ways, things that have a double life,” says VPL’s Victoria Bartlett. “A lot of people have done active fashion,” she continues, “but they haven’t done fashion active.” And VPL, with its original motto of “innerwear, outerwear, anywhere,” seems like the perfect brand to launch a prototype of “fashion active.” Since her first VPL show in 2004, Bartlett has emphasized body-focused, wearable designs, which have become even more relevant in our current era of activewear as outerwear.

“Fashion active is more of a science,” says Bartlett. “The difference is you’re dealing more with the fabrication, which is based on performance, whereas active fashion references the history and the ideology of it rather than the performance of it.”

With the help of S Group, a Portland-based company—also an instrumental asset to Nike and Lululemon—VPL’s Spring 2014 collection utilizes the latest in activewear technology and showcases Bartlett’s emphasis on comfort and movement. “I always like performance and dance,” she says. “It’s always been about the interpretation of movement and clothing, how your body works and how fabric and motion work. That’s why I’ve always worked with soft fabrics and stretch.”

In the decade since its founding, VPL has expanded to nearly seven divisions, but for its latest collection, Bartlett and her team “wanted to hone it back in and fine-tune it back to where it came from.” While Spring 2014 features the latest in fabric and athletic wear technology, the general concepts of what Bartlett calls the “geography of the body” and the “art of layering” are just as apparent as they have been since the company’s début collection. “The dialogue is the same, the style. It’s a conversion, like converting language,” she explains. “It’s not really about changing it, it’s redirecting, editing, and fine-tuning.”

Since the sophisticated, elegant, cosmopolitan woman to whom VPL has always appealed lives a dynamic, energetic lifestyle, the company’s redirected focus on “fashion active” seems not only logical but also necessary. Even the evolution of the hybrid workout class—from barre to Physique 57 to Core Fusion—reflects the trend of crossover appeal, and the need to be able to participate in different types of activities in the same outfit. “There was nothing that came up-to-date with that hybrid and crossing over, and I liked finding a new arena and a new language,” says Bartlett.

Lucky for us, while fashion boutiques don’t technically carry activewear, they have recognized the inevitable shift and have greeted the reenergized VPL with open arms. “We’re the first prototype of exhibiting this transition,” says Bartlett. And we’re sure they won’t be the last.

For more information, please visit VPLNYC.com.

Styling by Zara Zachrisson at ArtList New York. Makeup by Kanako Takase. Hair by Shin at FrankReps. Model: Manuela Frey at The Society Management. Special thanks to Fast Ashleys Studio, Brooklyn.

Emma Greenberg is a freelance culture writer based in New York. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in English and creative writing.

1 /2
All clothing by VPL.

Related

Esteban Gomez Finds Creatives a Home

With years of experience in the fashion industry, the Creatives Agent at Compass offers designers, photographers, stylists, models, and others a new approach to find a place to call home.

The Last Magazine Celebrates the Fall 2019 Issue

The cover story of our Fall 2019 issue is a love letter to New York City by photographer Dan Martensen and stylist Clare Richardson starring one of our favorite models of the moment, Binx Walton. For our launch party, we packed into Lola, one of the East Village’s newest hotspots, for an all-night dance party […]

Peter Ash Lee's New Magazine 'Burdock' Celebrates Asian-American Talent

Named after a root vegetable common to Asian cuisine, photographer Peter Ash Lee’s new magazine and digital platform celebrates Asian-American culture in an attempt to welcome a more diverse group both in front of and behind the camera.

Hans Neumann's Berlin Skaters

In an exclusive photo essay and “video poem,” the Peruvian photographer and director explores his family’s ancestral home through the lens of a group of young skateboarders who reflect the vitality of a new generation of European youth.

FUMI NAGASAKA STARTS A 'TEENAGE RIOT'

In her second book, the Japanese photographer captures the individual personalities and æsthetics of four adolescent girls in their hometowns in a collection that is both intimate and anthropological.

RO KWON ON CULTS AND YOUNG LOVE IN 'THE INCENDIARIES'

In her propulsive début novel, ten years in the making, the author ponders the unfathomability of others in the tale of a young woman who joins a cult.

MARTIN ZÄHRINGER GOES FISHING WITH JOHN BAKER

In his first book, the London-based photographer documents every facet of the life of a Barbadian fisherman with whom he felt an immediate kinship, acting as both visitor and companion.

JONAH BOKAER'S FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY

The collaborative, media-mixing contemporary choreographer celebrates fifteen years of his own company with a retrospective program and world premiere to look back while moving forward.

MARIO SORRENTI SHOWS A NEW SIDE OF KATE MOSS

In a new book of previously unreleased photographs, the famed photographer spotlights the iconic model’s innocence from their days of youthful love.

ROMAN MEJIA SHINES IN A NEW GENERATION OF DANCERS AT NEW YORK CITY BALLET

As the company makes its way through tumultuous times, the eighteen-year-old demonstrates the promise of a rising young crop of dancers with his clean lines and bounding jumps.

NEW YORK BY THE LAST MAGAZINE: VICE IMPACT PUBLISHER KATHERINE KEATING CHANNELS YOUTH ACTIVISM TO CREATE CHANGE

In an era of flourishing youth activism, the politically-minded advocate is harnessing the tools of social media and the internet to effect positive change by a young generation through direct calls to action.

NEW YORK BY THE LAST MAGAZINE: AUTHOR ALEXANDRA KLEEMAN SAYS WRITING IS LIKE PLAYING A VIDEO GAME

In her novel and short stories, the Staten Island-based author probes the border between science and literature with discomfiting tales about the body and its relationship to the perilous world around it.

HERMIONE HOBY'S 'NEON IN DAYLIGHT' REINVENTS THE NEW YORK NOVEL FOR A NEW AGE

In her début novel, the young British author ponders questions of selfhood and power dynamics in a thoughtful bildungsroman set during a sweltering New York summer.

ADWOA ABOAH HOSTS OUR TENTH-ANNIVERSARY PARTY WITH BURBERRY

Take a look at our tenth-anniversary celebration with Burberry at Radegast Hall in Brooklyn, hosted by our latest cover model Adwoa Aboah.

KANAZAWA

Photographer Marie Zucker was given rare access into an okiya, or boarding house, in the Japanese city of Kanazawa, where she captured these reflective images of geisha-in-training.

THE LAST WORD: ICEBERG

The Arctic ice pack puts the freeze on a teetering relationship in the latest edition of The Last Word, our ongoing series of original short fiction.

THE LAST GIFT GUIDE 2017

Our annual selection of gifts for you and yours, including everything you can imagine from a silk toothbrush on up to your own private island.

DAVID HALLBERG ON INJURIES AND INSECURITIES

In his new memoir, the celebrated principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre recounts his intense childhood training, joining the Bolshoi Ballet, and the arduous yearlong rehabilitation after a nearly career-ending injury that gave him a new perspective on his talent and the art form.