Are you ready for some bold new athleisure looks from AWMA® and ProForce®? New ProForce Sport ™ styles just dropped!
For those of you who aren’t aware yet, ProForce Sport™ is a line of athleisure and activewear designed by video artist, musician, and Director of Digital Media for AWMA, Christina Acevedo. The brand debuted last summer with a collection of pants inspired by Kung Fu, Karate, pop culture, and street fashion. The new line was an instant hit. Building on that success, Acevedo has returned with fresh designs and new martial arts influences that might be even cooler.
If you’ve ever looked at a beautiful pair of Muay Thai shorts and wondered if you could make it fashion, or if you’ve ever wished you could work and play in your BJJ gi pants, this is the collection for you.
The AWMA® Blog is obviously very excited about these products. Interested to hear more, we reached out to Acevedo for another chat. This time, she told us all about the world of ProForce Sport, the new looks, her inspiration, and gave us some styling suggestions.
ProForce Sport: The First Year
It’s been about eight months since we talked to you about the launch of ProForce Sport™. How have things been going since then?
As you can see we have done a couple more shoots with the line and are continuing to morph the way people interact with martial arts athleisure. Stylists have been pulling pieces for shoots and people are continuing to be happy and supportive customers. So I would say it’s going well!
On The New Collection’s Influences
Your first designs were inspired by karate. Now we’re starting to see BJJ and Muay Thai influences come into the mix. How did that come about?
I have always been drawn to a super colorful satin look that Muay Thai shorts embrace. I would show people the ProForce Sport™ line via proforcema.com and they would move around the site and gravitate towards the boxing shorts my Mom’s brand ProForce was making. They wanted to use the shorts for swimming and basketball. A lightbulb went off, where I knew I had to do a ProForce Sport version of the short for the fans and, most importantly, my friends. The BJJ pants were a no-brainer. They are so practical for any activity and the contrast stitching is so eye-catching and also trending right now, so I had to develop a ProForce Sport™ version of our super-popular ProForce® Competition Signature BJJ Pants with Contrast Stitching since everyone loves wearing them around once they put them on.
The Muay Thai shorts are such a beautiful blend of traditional and modern influences. Was it challenging to strike that balance in the design?
Not so much because I really do like to keep them looking traditional but with a modern twist, which comes naturally. As we talked about in the last blog post, my inspiration comes from older Japanese television series (Kamen Rider and Himitsu Sentai Gorenger) and old horror classics. I do really like to honor the original brand — a throwback if you will, but putting my modern spin on it by changing the colors, adding bows, keeping the collection cohesive (we call this new one fallen angels hence all the gold, silver, and pearl colors along with the bows that remind me of wings).
Function and Fashion
I think anyone who’s trained in a BJJ Gi has been surprised at how comfortable they are and have been waiting for a product like the ProForce Sport™ Ripstop BJJ pants. What inspired you to get into BJJ style Gi pants?
The honest answer is that one day after a shoot that I was producing in 2017 for ProForce®, I took the BJJ pants home and tried them on. The fit was perfect and they were so comfortable. I wore them around town and I loved reactions from friends and strangers. A lot of people had not seen them outside the context of the dojo and I was happy to see their surprised faces when I told them what these pants were. And then even more happy when they said “I want a pair.”
Do you have any styling tips or suggestions for those of us who love the looks, but might need a little help putting everything together?
Since we have chilly nights in L.A., I love to see people pair the new ProForce Sport™ Black Satin Demo Pants with an oversized knitwear top. The cropped look is cool, too. I love a cropped sweater vest with a cute pattern paired with the pants. Also, the new pants look great with a sports bra and open button up or oversized jacket. I love throwing the Muay Thai shorts over a bathing suit when I am at the beach or pool as a cover up, or even a bathing suit bottom! It’s a super-easy way to move from the beach to a workout to a cafe, looking great the entire time 🙂 Sporty with a twist is how I like to style them!
For more on ProForce Sport and the original designs, check out our July 2021 blog, “ProForce Has A New Athleisure Line. We Talked To The Designer.“
