Fleur du Mal’s sportswear drop

Fleur du Mal has entered activewear with a 16-piece sport capsule that puts lace, mesh and bra-style construction into gym clothes. (wwd.com) The line debuted on April 8 and is sold exclusively on Fleur du Mal’s website under the “Fleur du Sport” label. The collection includes sports bras, leggings, track pants, shorts, jackets and a shaping catsuit. (wwd.com) (fleurdumal.com) Prices start at $88 for the Le Stretch Lace Sports Bra and run to $395 for the Warm Up Jacket, according to Women’s Wear Daily. Fleur du Mal says the capsule uses sculpting leggings, four-way stretch jersey with Lycra, Le Stretch lace, lightweight nylon and pima cotton. (wwd.com) (fleurdumal.com) Founder Jennifer Zuccarini told Women’s Wear Daily that customers and friends had been asking for activewear “for years,” and that she began developing the category about two years ago. She said the brand applied its bra-fit experience to sports bras sized like lingerie rather than generic small, medium and large ranges. (wwd.com) The move extends a brand that was built on lingerie into a category where fashion labels have been trying to sell clothes for workouts, commuting and nights out at the same time. Fleur du Mal’s own product page pitches the capsule with the line “barre to bar.” (fleurdumal.com) (fitnyc.edu) That pitch also lands at a moment when sports bras, leggings and bodysuits are being styled as everyday clothes, not just training gear. Hypebae described Fleur du Mal’s launch as the brand’s first sportswear line and highlighted balconette necklines, lace inserts and bodysuits as the main design shift. (hypebae.com) Zuccarini founded Fleur du Mal in 2012 after co-founding Kiki de Montparnasse in 2005, according to the Fashion Institute of Technology profile. That background helps explain why the new sport line leans on corset lacing, lace panels and underpinnings usually associated with intimate apparel. (fitnyc.edu) (wwd.com) The collection does not abandon performance language altogether. Women’s Wear Daily reported that Zuccarini positioned the core fabric as a compressive four-way stretch jersey, while Fleur du Mal’s site calls the pieces “technical performance” styles built for movement. (wwd.com) (fleurdumal.com) For now, the launch looks less like a mass-market basics push than a brand extension aimed at existing Fleur du Mal shoppers. The opening range is limited to 16 pieces, sold direct on the company’s site, with the same lingerie signatures that made the label known in the first place. (wwd.com) (fleurdumal.com)