ONCE an unlikely couple, high fashion is getting hitched to sportswear. Designers are increasingly being seduced to jump into the sportswear game, spurred on by a growing health consciousness and a thriving sportswear industry. According to the Financial Times, despite the economic recession, Puma's orders rose five per cent from 2007 to 2008 while Nike's revenues increased by 14 per cent to US$18.6 billion, followed by a rise of another three per cent in the last year.

It is thus unsurprising that fashion houses, better known for paying attention to the aesthetics of design, are now trying their hand at making sportswear hip.

Sportswear, it seems, has become the new black.

This would perhaps explain why Dolce & Gabbana recently decided to launch a new line - the D&G Gym collection - dedicated to sports and leisure. The Gym line comes hot on the heels of the brand's launch of a collection for the Milano Beach Soccer team as well as a design sponsorship for football club AC Milan's team uniform. D&G is not the only fashion player in the game.

Few might know this but Chanel has been in the business of making sportswear since the 1910s. An avid sportswoman who went horseback-riding with Etienne de Balsan, yachting, fishing and hunting with the Duke of Westminster and skied, golfed and danced, Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel created her own brand of sporting fashion by designing tennis outfits, golfing outfits and running gear.

She was quoted in Paul Morand's book L'Allure de Chanel as saying: 'I invented sport suits for me. Not because other women were playing sports, but because I was playing them.'

Over the years, the house of Chanel has come out with everything from dumbbells to tennis racquets, rugby balls and even fishing rods. For Autumn/Winter '09 its offering includes ski gear such as goggles and handmade Chanel skis in natural cherry wood to complement their snow-board, ski-suits and après-ski moon boots.

Other players in the market? Louis Vuitton in 2003 created a range of by-special-order-only golf gear which includes a golf bag (with matching accessories such as a travel bag, golf ball bag and a towel), a pair of golfing gloves and an umbrella. Gucci's creative director Frida Giannini specially designed a bicycle for her '8-8-2006 Limited Edition' collection to be sold exclusively in Hong Kong and mainland China. And over at Hermes, one can find classy equestrian gear such as holdall bags as well as goose down jackets and bags for hunting.

These days, the easiest and perhaps most popular way for designers to get active is through tie-ups with major sportswear labels such as Nike, adidas and Puma. Comme des Garcon's Rei Kuwakubo recently produced swimwear for Speedo, while British designer Alexander McQueen collaborated with Puma. None, however, have been quite as prolific as adidas' two partners, Yohji Yamamoto and Stella McCartney.

In 2002, in what was deemed an extraordinary move at the time, Yamamoto entered into a collaboration with adidas, breaking new ground by bringing together fashion design and sportswear. The line was named Y-3: 'Y' for Yamamoto and '3' for the three signature adidas stripes. The dash between the 'Y' and the '3' signified the link between the two.

adidas went on to join hands with Stella McCartney in 2004 for a collection that, while stylish, is good enough for use even at a professional level - the line's new ambassador is tennis player Caroline Wozniacki.

adidas has upped the ante this season by tying up with Def Jam Recordings to create mini collections under its Originals by Originals line, with Jeremy Scott, Japanese designer Kazuki and David Beckham in collaboration with streetwear designer James Bond. 'These high end collaborations earmark the start of adidas recognising the importance of consumer wants in presenting a fashionable range of sports-inspired attire that not only allows an active lifestyle, but also allows the products to be worn about town as a fashion statement,' says Adrian Chai, brand communications manager of adidas South-east Asia.

He adds that both the Y-3 and adidas by Stella McCartney lines have done extremely well. Sales of the Stella range, priced from $89 to $459, have grown five times since inception, and Y-3 has opened monobrand stores in Tokyo, Beijing, Manchester, Paris, Miami, New York and will open in Singapore later this year (at Mandarin Gallery).

Aesthetics aside, the question remains: do we really need fashion while sweating it out and would high fashion elevate an athlete's performance?

It depends, answers sports psychologist Edgar Tham.

'Wearing any kind of sportswear in and of itself won't make a 'normal' athlete 'super-normal' because there aren't any magical powers in them! However, if a person believes (and that is the key) that it helps them, then that may make a difference,' he says. 'This phenomenon is called the placebo effect. There are many things that go into the placebo effect and confidence can be one of them.'

Agrees Mr Chai: 'The performance of the sports person will vary with different, individualistic capabilities, so while it's not the fashion but the technology that contributes largely to your personal performance, it does feel good to know you look stylish while at it! As best summed up by Stella herself: 'I want to offer women sports clothing they could work out in and still feel good about the way they look.'

This article was first published in The Business Times