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The 2024 Paris Olympics came to a close, and it has been dubbed "the most fashionable Olympics" ever with team kits of Mongolia, France and other countries creating quite a buzz online. The eye-catching element of sports attire comes into play for visually attractive events such as gymnastics and synchronised swimming, but fashion has to meet function in the designing of these uniforms, so as to enhance and not impede the athletes’ performances.

Take cycling as an example, a sport familiar to Hong Kong. The design of a competition uniform involves complex scientific calculations, emphasising functionality and safety. The materials used must be highly elastic, breathable and sweat absorbent to increase the athletes' comfort. Designers also apply fluid dynamics principles to create streamlined designs and minimise protrusions, reducing friction between the athlete and the outfit to improve aerodynamic efficiency. These outfits undergo rigorous testing prior to competitions to ensure they can protect athletes and enhance performance under diverse conditions.

New gear for the Hong Kong team

Recently, leisure sportswear brand bossini.X announced its sponsorship of the Hong Kong cycling team and collaborated with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) to develop the team's cycling attire for the Games. Sharon Chong, General Manager of Bossini Enterprises Limited, shared how this collaboration came about, "The group became a sponsor of the Chinese national cycling team two or three years ago. This year, we began sponsoring the Hong Kong team as a continuation of our commitment."

In 2019, the HKUST's laboratory first applied aerodynamics to cycling, using wind tunnel tests to evaluate cycling equipment and train athletes while developing high-performance racing outfits. In recent years, bossini.X has equipped the HKUST's Aerodynamics and Acoustics Laboratory with advanced cycling aerodynamics testing facilities and a 2.5-metre-diameter low-noise sports wind tunnel for development and repeated testing. The aim is to create suits that provide Hong Kong athletes with a technological edge.

This new generation of competition attire gives Hong Kong athletes a significant technical advantage in the Paris Olympics, leading to better performance. This cross-disciplinary collaboration also signals a new trend in the future development of sports gear.

Further breakthroughs

The brand has developed new exclusive fabric materials for the Hong Kong cycling team, achieving significant breakthroughs in competition attire. The fabric is more elastic and breathable in certain areas, allowing cyclists greater flexibility. The laboratory performed wind tunnel tests on actual athletes, combining supercomputers and 3D scanning technology to calculate their body shapes and fluid dynamics characteristics accurately. Adjustments were made based on individual postures to optimise their performance.

Instead of going for standard-sized cycling attire, bossini.X custom-made each competition outfit for the Hong Kong cycling team members, ensuring each athlete competes confidently and comfortably. After repeated testing, Professor Zhang Xin's team at the HKUST confirmed that the brand’s newly developed cycling suit effectively reduces wind resistance by 3%, an improvement over the traditional 2% reduction. Hong Kong team representatives have already worn this new cycling suit at the 2024 UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup in March.

To enhance athlete training, last year, the Hong Kong Design Institute's Centre of Innovative Material and Technology (HKDI CIMT) developed a wearable sensor device, "PostureSense", which uses detachable woven material straps attached to sports shirts to monitor cyclists' riding posture, preventing injuries and improving overall performance. This innovative design won the bronze medal at the 48th Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions and the Red Dot Award: Design Concept 2023 — the latter is often referred to as the "Oscars of the Design World" for its prestigious status. The HKDI CIMT team is currently showcasing an improved secondgeneration version and negotiating a collaboration with a mainland cycling sportswear brand, which sponsors more than 50 cycling teams worldwide. They plan to test the straps on athletes, incorporating features to measure heart rate, respiration and body temperature.

The HKDI has also teamed up with cycling sportswear brand Santic to co-organise a student design competition, integrating the project into the advanced diploma fashion design course, which attracted more than 80 students. The students in this course created distinctive cycling sportswear using classic cycling culture and surrealism as their design directions. Professional judges selected five finalists, and Santic helped bring to life the students' designs, which were showcased at the HKDI graduation exhibition. This collaboration gave students valuable practical experience, from design conception to final production, broadening their horizons and cultivating their professional abilities.

In future major competitions, the Hong Kong cycling team will be able to leverage cutting-edge advancements in fabric technology, 3D scanning and fluid dynamics analysis. Their stateof- the-art gear will blend innovation with bespoke tailoring, rigorous wind tunnel testing and wearable posture monitoring devices. These improvements promise to bring more glory to Hong Kong and its athletes.

Athleisure trend

Since the 1980s, athleisure has gradually entered the mainstream market, and in the 2010s, it caught on fed by celebrity pictures on social media. In the post-pandemic era, as people increasingly prioritise health, more individuals are adopting exercise habits like hiking and yoga, leading to a transformation in global sports leisurewear brands. Sportswear is no longer limited to exercise — it brings the wearer the best of all worlds: fashion, comfort and functionality. For example, lululemon, founded in 1988 and originating from North America, has developed a variety of proprietary fabrics, such as the quickdrying, breathable and highly stretchy Nulu fabric and the wrinkle-resistant, breathable and stretchy Warpstreme fabric.

Meanwhile, outdoor sports equipment brand BOA, founded in the Colorado Rockies, has developed the revolutionary patented BOA Fit System. The brand has an independent Performance Fit Lab, with a team of designers, prototype makers, engineers and biomechanics experts conducting independent scientific research both in labs and rugged outdoor terrain. The brand spends over 400 hours annually evaluating elite athletes' performances to collect data. The patented design used in sports and mountaineering shoes, BOA PerformFit Wrap, encloses and fits the midfoot and locks the heel. Scientific testing has confirmed that the design accelerates athletes by 1.5%, reduces ankle rotation speed by 7%, enhances overall stability, and boosts speed, agility and endurance.

In recent years, the general public has raised their awareness on health and wellness, leading to the athletic and leisure elements also becoming a prominent fashion statement. Sports leisurewear will undoubtedly become one of the most prominent fashion elements. With more sports-related technologies emerging, the future will see diverse sports leisurewear that meet contemporary consumers' comprehensive demands for comfort, functionality and aesthetics, allowing both athletes and the public to showcase their confident and stylish side.