Watch Out, Corporate America, Yoga Clothes Are Now Flooding Your Offices

This article originally appeared on Yoganonymous.com

Photo via Google Images

Are yoga pants the new business casual? Or are business casual pants redefining themselves with a new, anti-wrinkle, yoga pant material?

The answer is: Both.

In 2008, you were introduced to the jegging—a comfortable fusion between the yoga pant and jeans. In 2016, you are being introduced to the athleisure business pant. What is that, you ask? It's the response to the young professional cries for casual comfort, and is also known as a soft, stretchy pant created in a business casual form.

In this article published on Bloomberg, Amy Mains, a corporate yogi, explains that she prioritizes “comfort, convenience, and a professional look. Her go-to Lululemons meet two out of three, allowing her to switch from her San Francisco communications job to a studio without need of a gym bag.”

However, a two out of three need fulfillment just doesn’t cut it when you enter into the professional realm—Amy explains that she has to cover her yoga pants with a long top and an excessive amount of jewelry. Not a great look, if you’re the clean, minimalist type.

Shoppers, like Amy, are “opting for all-day items that make sense in the office and out.”

Truthfully, many of you switch into comfortable clothing the first chance you get: “a Nielsen survey found that 75 percent of working women change into something more comfortable when they get home.” And with this data, athleisure clothing makers are responding with activewear that is appropriate for the office.

Caroline Gogolak, the co-founder of Carbon38 says that her company’s "whole mentality is that activewear is the new ready-to-wear. Activewear [can] definitely [be] work-appropriate."

Guess what, Caroline? Companies, big and small, are hopping on this bandwagon—including Lululemon, Ministry of Supply, and Outdoor Voices.

Lululemon launched Lululemon Lab earlier this year—an entire store in SoHo, dedicated to business casual attire made purely from soft, stretchy, yoga material.

While Ministry of Supply, which “creates [business casual clothes with] multi-directional stretch, and moisture-wicking fibers,” proved its performance capabilities when their founder ran an entire half-marathon wearing only Ministry of Supply attire.

And, lastly, Outdoor Voices created a list of “stretches that can be done right at your desk, relieving stress while on conference calls, or at the water cooler.”

The world is evolving. The life pillars of wellness and work are combining, and the result means more comfort for you (and a decreased need for more clothing in your closet). Do you know what that means? More cha-ching in your bank. Huzzah!