AthleisureSpeaking to The Guardian in 2024, style writer TJ Sidhu said gilets are “such a specific item of clothing that people really recognise and associate with that industry of banker bros.” But the garment began its life in the fields of 15th-century France, where farm labourers needed to be able to move their arms while keeping their torsos warm. Do such physical demands really exist in the corridors of JP Morgan? Or, like Londoners who drive showroom-clean 4x4s on city tarmac, have outdoorwear and activewear come to have an aspirational meaning outside their purpose?It was hard to imagine athleisure (like today’s “pilates princess” brands) as status symbols in the naughties, when characters like Matt Lucas’ Vicky Pollard helped to deepen stereotypes associating out-of-gym sportswea