The sharpest, chicest gym kit for 2025
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Training is trending. The global explosion in functional workout competitions such as Hyrox and CrossFit Games means it’s never been more fashionable to lift, squat and haul. As for what to wear? The options are plentiful: in 2024, the global gym apparel market was expected to be at $239.98bn, according to a report by Future Market Insights; it’s anticipated to swell to $438.47bn by 2034.
The sector’s boom has birthed a whole category of trend-led, training-adjacent brands, and with it, a new aesthetic: say hello to the Hyrox look. There now exists a tick list of highly specific, must-wear items that are both status symbols and style statements. From velcro bag patches to towels printed with motivational slogans, your gear is a knowing wink to fellow fanatics that you’re also firm friends with the “farmer’s carry”. (Translation: walking very fast with two very heavy dumbbells.)
From the shoes to the hoodie, here are the items and brands you need to know for assembling the ultimate training wardrobe.
THE BAG
Built for Athletes x Hyrox 35L Pro backpack, £160
What: The It bag for lifting. This enormous backpack is as stacked in silhouette as those that carry it. Available only in black and covered in a distinctive webbing, the £160 bag is a carry-all for jump ropes, grips, lifting shoes, meal prep and clothes – plus, it looks like a SWAT team accessory.
Who: Built for Athletes was launched in Warrington, north-west England, in 2018 by Nick Costello and his brother, Danny. Both CrossFit enthusiasts, the bags were a function-first creation, built to be “robust” and “designed to maximise storage” with “tactical-style organisation” says Nick Costello, who formerly worked in marketing for a pizza chain.
The ultimate flex: For Hyrox competitors, the top souvenir is a sticky velcro patch bought from the merch stand at global competitions. They then stick them on their BFA backpack – like Cub Scout or Brownies badges.
THE SHOES
Rad One shoes, £130
What: The groundwork of a good squat? A sturdy pair of flat soles. Rad, the creative London- and Portland, Oregon-based brand, has turned its training-specific sneakers into waitlist-worthy items. Rad’s aesthetic is more akin to that of skatewear than sportswear, which gives it an air of cult cool amid corporate homogeneity. With just one training shoe (the Rad One) and one running shoe (the R-1) in its portfolio, its signature Rad Ones (£130) are ergonomically designed for the gym: “Stable enough for lifting but supple enough for plyometrics; durable enough for rope climbs but light enough for agility work,” says founder and CEO Benjamin Massey. Inspired by Supreme, Rad releases new colours of the Rad One as online drops each month, accompanied by fun mini films. They always (almost instantly) sell out.
Who: Massey, a former employee of streetwear brand A Bathing Ape, founded Rad in 2022 after becoming fed up with the lack of fashionable spins on functional training. Having designed his own shoe, and convinced a factory to make a prototype, he flew to Portland to pitch his business idea to Tom Berend, formerly of Nike’s “Innovation Kitchen”. Berend, who also co-created the Nike Jordan ’23, came on board as head of footwear, and helped bring the Rad One to market: the brand has sold more than 200,000 pairs of that signature style alone since launch. A renovated, second edition of the Rad One will release this month. Set your alarms.
The Flex: Buy yours from the back of a Rad van. Yes, really. The brand pops up at Hyrox and CrossFit Games events with its guerrilla retail stores, shifting thousands of pairs from a Transit in the car park. In Austin last October, the line was 14 hours long. The brand drops special pairs online, too: the most recent (the “Got Got Need” edition) were in iridescent leather and came with a collectable, holographic trading card.
THE KIT FOR MEN
Represent 247 cut-off tank, £80, and training shorts, £90
What: 247 is the sportswear arm of the Manchester brand Represent, which sells oversized leather jackets and baggy jeans to a young, urban crowd. The performance pieces, launched because co-founder George Heaton “didn’t want to wear anyone else’s kit”, are equally stylised. Much copied, its cut-off tanks (£80) and training shorts (£90) are emblazoned with big, bold “Team 247” lettering that looks good on the ’gram.
Who: Represent was founded in 2016 by twentysomething brothers George and Mike Heaton from their father’s garden shed; the brand generated more than £80mn in sales in 2023, with 247 (launched in 2020) now its fastest growing division. The company has a warehouse gym on site and has hired an in-house Hyrox champion, Jake Dearden to create free workouts for its app. George, a heavy-metal fan, wears the brand’s Metallica T-shirts to work out in.
The Flex: Team Representers don’t just own the 247 tank; they also have the full wardrobe for post-workout – everything from technical cargo pants, sunglasses and hoodies to insulated vests.
THE FUEL
Marchon supplement “Stacks”, from £45
What: With its trendy, monochromatic packaging and bold typeface, Marchon has helped remove the mind-boggling confusion from sports supplementation with its straightforward product names: “Workout Fuel”, “Peak Endurance” and “Performance Hydration”. It also bundles them into “Stacks” (from £45) or curated bundles of different products. The Women’s Stack includes whey protein, hormone-regulating supplements and multivitamins; the Muscle Stack includes creatine and micellar casein to aid strength and recovery.
Who: Ollie Marchon, a personal trainer, launched Marchon in the UK in 2016, and has since built an empire that includes a podcast (with more than one million monthly listens) and Marchon-branded merch. He launched the brand to “plug the gap in nutrition strategies” for amateurs and athletes. He eats eggs for breakfast and steak for dinner, and also takes seven different supplements, including creatine.
The Flex: Been there; swallowed that; bought the T-shirt: Marchon’s “Training” hoodies and tops are also now bestsellers. A self-professed lover of a bicep curl, Marchon likes to “fill a T-shirt”. As he claims: “When you wear Marchon apparel, you’re showing people you mean business in the arena of life.”
THE KIT FOR WOMEN
Gymshark Adapt Fleck seamless shorts, £38, and matching bra, £38
What: “If you go to the gym, you should wear clothing made specifically for it,” says Noel Mack, chief brand officer at Gymshark, one of the first labels to cater specifically to the barbell brigade. It now dominates gym apparel – and isn’t interested in diversifying further. “Most brands have focused on traditional sports,” says Mack. “I’m hyped about the gym space. Young people are swapping Friday nights at the bar for lifting sessions at the weights bar; the gym is part of the Gen Z identity, blurring the lines between fitness and fashion. And more women and underrepresented groups are making the gym their space.”
Who: Ben Francis was at university when he and Lewis Morgan created Gymshark in 2012, aged 19. He bought the online domain for £3.50, purchased a sewing machine from Hobbycraft and his mother and grandmother taught him how to sew. He has since turned the label into a unicorn business and become one of the world’s youngest billionaires.
The Flex: Hyrox girlies love wearing the brand’s coordinating uniforms when competing in “doubles”, a two-person competition entry, where workout routines are done in tandem and scores are awarded for synchronicity and speed. “The matching kits help a team stand out while performing,” says Mack. Gymshark’s women’s line, launched in 2014, is growing fast: items are specially designed for the gym, from “squat-proof” leggings with extra durability, higher waistlines and zero sheerness (from £30), to thoughtful contour seam details on the shorts (from £25) that help enhance glute gains.
THE ACCESSORIES
What: Sweatbands from Rec Gen ($16); fluorescent socks (£12) and CBD balm (£40) from Puresport; knee sleeves from Rogue (£51); rubber recovery slides from UVU Club (£55); a gym towel with a motivational quote from Never Quit (A$19.99, about £10); a tank-like 2.4-litre water bottle from Primal (£10.99) filled with an elderberry hydration sachet from Humantra (£28 for 20 servings); a Kellogg’s Marshmallow Squares bar (£2.25); a Huel Black Edition 35g chocolate protein shake (from £3.42 a bottle) – all packed in the pockets of a BFA backpack – plus a Coros watch (£220), a Whoop fitness wristband (from £44) and a can of Cadence lemon and lime electrolytes (£48 for 24) in hand. Go get ‘em, tiger. Or should we say, shark.
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