The days of relegating ‘casual’ clothes in the office to Fridays are a thing of the past, but activewear powerhouse Lorna Jane wants Australian employers to go one step further and encourage their staff to wear leggings and exercise tees to work.
Today marks the first ‘International Activewear Day’, an initiative created by the Australian brand to promote wearing activewear, and being more active, in the workplace.
Lorna Jane was founded by Lorna Jane Clarkson in 1989 and has carved out a leading position in the Australian activewear market. Clarkson, together with her husband and co-founder Bill Clarkson, bought back 40% of the company from CHAMP Ventures for $28 million in early 2020, in a deal that reportedly valued the business at $70 million.
Speaking to SmartCompany, Lorna Jane Clarkson says she first began designing activewear to help “change the way women lived their lives”, and International Activewear Day is an extension of that long-running passion.
“We created International Activewear Day to promote the benefits of simply wearing activewear and inspire people to incorporate activewear into their daily wardrobe, enhancing movement and promoting heightened productivity,” she told SmartCompany.
The activewear brand has launched a dedicated website for the event, with organisations able to sign up for free to access educational resources and a Lorna Jane discount code “perks” for staff, and participate in an “Active Chair Desk-cathlon” challenge.
While the company isn’t revealing how many businesses have already signed up, Clarkson says the Lorna Jane team is “excited and overwhelmed by how enthusiastically the idea of International Activewear Day has been received”.
“Companies are reaching out to register and use the tools and resources we have supplied to support their international education programs,” she says.
“For example, our Desk-cathlon is a fun movement program that we have received praising feedback from participating companies looking to impact their colleagues positively.”
The research into the dangers of sedentary lifestyles is clear, says Clarkson, as is the influence of what we wear on our mood and behaviour.
According to SafeWork Australia, employees across the country spend approximately 76% of their time, or around five hours a day, sitting at work, and a quarter of the workforce say they sit for more than eight hours a day.
“International Activewear Day celebrates the importance of movement, especially in the workplace,” she adds.
But of course, a company that makes and sells activewear would take this position.
When asked what she would say to those who see the event as simply a marketing or sales tactic, Clarkson did not respond directly to the question. Instead, she says the focus is on “investing in educating our community on the importance of living an active lifestyle”.
“Our brand has a rich heritage as a resource for women, providing the tools they need to live a life they love,” says Clarkson.
“Our commitment to the day is supported by tapping into our network of experts and providing free resources to people, communities and organisations.”
Lorna Jane now has more than 100 retail stores and around 1000 employees globally. The retailer expects International Activewear Day to become an annual event involving workplaces around the world, with attitudes to workwear already shifting in the world of hybrid work.
“The activewear industry has seen healthy growth [during the past three years], and as part of this, we are seeing a shift towards more traditional fashion retailers incorporating activewear into their everyday product offerings,” says Clarkson.
“This also means the future of workwear is changing. People are starting to adopt a hybrid active/work wardrobe and we’re calling on companies … to work with their employees to strike a balance and encourage activewear as a natural extension to work attire.”
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Eloise is an experienced business journalist and editor, who has held senior editorial roles at SmartCompany since 2014. Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on LinkedIn, and Twitter at @ellykeating.
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