Australian-owned gentlemen’s clothier M.J. Bale has leveraged its renowned expertise in natural fibres and relationship with elite level woolgrowers to launch its first-ever athleisure collection.
Titled Made-To-Move, the range draws upon the brand’s decade of experience tailoring Australia’s professional athletes, from official brand partners the Wallabies to the Australian Test Cricket Team, to create a range tailored for optimal performance.
Included are thermo-regulating base layer tees created from 100 percent Merino wool sourced from woolgrowers along Tasmania’s 42nd parallel south, as well as retro-inspired cotton jersey tops, organic cotton hoodies, sweatpants and superlight quilted gilets. M.J. Bale has engineered the range with a refined contemporary look to combine easily with blazers and suits, as well as jeans and chinos, for the man-on-the-move.
Made-To-Move premiered at Melbourne Fashion Festival this month. Australian Parkour athlete Dominic di Tommaso and champion sprinter Conor Loughnan both modelled the athleisurewear on the runway, executing flips, tumbles, aerials, and climbing steel columns to illustrate the flexibility and stretch inherent in the new collection.
"I went full-out on the backflips and really felt the full-extension of stretch," said Tommaso.
"I felt no resistance when climbing the pole. I usually worry about the tension in my hips and legs when doing my stunts and I didn’t have to think about them at all."
Tommaso and Loughnan have also joined up with local free-runner Michael Khedoori (AKA ‘The Kid’ from Ultimate Tag Australia) to produce a short film road- testing M.J. Bale Made-to-Move in extreme conditions. The film takes place in iconic CBD Sydney locations such as Hyde Park, St Mary’s Cathedral, Martin Place, Pyrmont Bridge and Barangaroo, with the three athletes vaulting down flights of stairs and forward somersaulting off ledges.
"It was a humid day, but the Merino wool base layer tees were so breathable," expressed Tommaso.
"Normally in other tees I sweat buckets, the woollen fabrics were super flexible and I didn’t have to worry about them getting in the way of my tricks. I had my full range of movability."
The Made-to-Move range follows on from the launch of M.J. Bale’s wool-linen-elastane Woven in Italy ‘Flow’ suits in 2020, which offer the most stretch and give of any suit in the market.
