By Jeremy Freed

Copyright gq

There are many—some might argue too many—sports-minded brands offering novel takes on shorts, tights, and tees, and tights for every possible athletic pursuit, from cycling to pickleball. Still, even at the highest echelons of athleisure, whether it’s Tracksmith’s Wes Anderson-y retro tees or Satisfy’s high-tech putty-colored shorts, the best of these offerings remain decidedly…sporty. For anyone looking for a third way, Toronto-based Literary Sport offers an enticing alternative.
Launched in 2024, Literary Sport is a brand seemingly created in response to the question, “Can workout clothes be both technical and vibey?” The answer, surprisingly, is yes. In a collection that runs the gamut from tights and tees to gilets and quarter-zips, Literary Sport’s subdued colors, natural fibers, and drapey forms slot neatly into the gap between fluorescent branded workout gear and monochrome luxury basics.
Literary Sport succeeds because, as anyone who’s attempted to incorporate athleisure into their weekday lineup can attest, even the best examples of the genre tend to leave one looking like a yoga dad. Instead, Literary Sport holds up the promise of performance-oriented clothing by making pieces that are breathable, comfortable, and will look right in your (chill, vaguely creative) workplace. You will find no tech pants or five-way stretch button-downs in the Literary Universe, and that alone seems like a great leap forward for athletic wear—and humanity in general.
Literary Sport began as a collaboration between veteran stylist Jackie McKeown and Mark Bechara, an MFA creative writing grad with a background in apparel manufacturing. Both avid runners, McKeown and Bechara, along with co-founder Deirdre Matthews, sought to create a line of running gear that took a more highbrow approach. “As many niche brands as there are out there doing excellent things in the running space, the quality is great, but I don’t really align with the aesthetic,” explains McKeown, the brand’s creative director. “The goal was to create garments that were super functional and super beautiful at the quality we wanted.”
The result of their efforts is a line of workout-friendly clothes complete with literary-inspired names like Pablo (i.e. Neruda) and Virginia (i.e. Woolf) that combine technical performance chops with a refined, sartorial look. They’re all clothes you can exercise in, certainly, but they can just as easily be paired with Lemaire slippers as your trusty Hokas.
“We’re not approaching the design from what’s the quickest, thinnest, lowest GSM singlet that we can make,” McKeown says. “It was really coming from the perspective of garments that speak to a quieter idea in the athletic space.” To that end, Literary Sport’s latest collection includes studied takes on essentials like boxy tees and compression shorts, as well as bigger swings like cardigans made from lightweight Italian wool and COOLMAX and wide drawstring pants cut from Japanese nylon.
As much as Literary Sport’s oeuvre is dependent on flowy minimalism, textile wizardry, and thoughtful details, the brand’s secret sauce is something altogether more—for lack of a better word—poetic. It’s an approach to running that’s less about Strava heatmaps and the latest sneaker tech and more about introspection and, occasionally, transcendence.
“Sometimes in poetry, you can come across one line and the truth of that line makes you pause,” says Bechara. “And I’ve had that same sensation on morning runs where it’s dead quiet, and you can almost hear the traffic lights changing. That’s a poetic moment for me.” It’s a lot of significance to endow a hoodie or a pair of tights with, maybe, but for anyone who’s wished for workout gear that doesn’t always look like it, it’s a welcome vibe shift.