And a first for Adidas is their women ambassadors for the Adilibria. The world-class team of athlete-ambassadors include Russian pole vaulter Elena Isinbayeva (the first woman athlete to clear five meters as she broke her previous record by one centimeter at the Track and Field World Championships in Helsinki), US runner Allyson Felix, Yugoslavian tennis player Ana Ivanovic, and Dutch handball player Gro Hammerseng.
"Our main focus is performance and style," said Franziska Horstmann, senior product manager, women’s global marketing-sports performance division. "We don’t want to compromise one for the other because we think that women value both."
Horstmann, whom we met at the Adidas sports center in Nuremberg, has been with Adidas for over seven years and has been part of the development of many Adidas products for women.
Horstmann knows that today, women no longer just want to work out. They want to look good and feel good while they train. And, for most women, when they look and feel good, they perform even better. It is with this in mind that Adilibria was conceived.
"In choosing an outfit, women do not want to have a top and a separate bottom," she added. "They want to have an outfit that is complete. One that is both stylish and performance-driven. Of course, to complete the look they need the shoes to go with it, too." And, for the first time at Adidas, Adilibria has designed accessories and footwear to complete the performance gear.
The collection uses lightweight and fluent fabrics that assure comfort, breathability and extreme freedom of movement. Adilibria engineered the development of the fabric and added Lycra where it was necessary.
Other successful high-end technologies were used, like Cimacool (which absorbs sweat) and Climacool (which keeps the body warm) for either hot- or cold-weather conditions. In addition, there is Climalite, a soft, lightweight fabric for superior moisture management, and ForMotion, which enhances sports performance and power of movement.
"The whole collection features very soft colors – not bright ones," said Horstmann. "The shade goes well with the feeling of comfort."
"Because when a person does yoga, they do not want their outfits to get in the way of their movements," added Horstmann. "If the outfits have seams, we have put them in areas which do not come in contact with movement like bending and stretching."
The feminine tones of Adilibria include delicate peach and soft orange mixed with different shades of gray; darker explorer gray and light gray and electric blue night sky.
Gone are the days when workout outfits were just for the gym and working out. With the Adilibria line, Adidas introduces outfits that not only allow women to do well in dance and yoga, but are also fashionable enough to wear when hanging out. – Kathy Moran