Sportswear is considered the main American contribution to the history of fashion design, developed to satisfy the demands of the increasingly hectic lifestyle of women and men in America. The term, born from an industrial expression that described formal and interchangeable clothing, around 1920 it began to represent casual clothing, perfect for sporting events. Until 1930, when it began designate a type of garment suitable for less formal situations, which show a relaxed approach to different social or business occasions.

The first sportswear designers were associated, at least initially, with prèt-à-porter producers rather than with high fashion houses: the clothes they created, in fact, were meant to be easily washable and easy to maintain, with practical and accessible closures to allow modern women, more and more emancipated, to dress without anyones help. A fun fact: many of the earliest sportswear designers were women, they knew how to project their personal values ​​into this new style. TO carry on with the great sportswear revolution, in the 70s, was Geoffrey Beene, who incorporated elements of menswear in its relaxed feminine clothes, favoring the stratification of the garments.