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Athlete-performer Erin Ward takes the stage at the 2016 Olympic Trials in Eugene, OR.
Athlete-performer Erin Ward takes the stage at the 2016 Olympic Trials in Eugene, OR. (Photo: Kevin Morris)

Why Oiselle Is Ditching Its Fashion Show

Because women's stories are important

Published: 
Athlete-performer Erin Ward takes the stage at the 2016 Olympic Trials in Eugene, OR.
(Photo: Kevin Morris)

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Sally Bergesen, Oiselle鈥檚 founder and CEO, says she鈥檚 bored of fashion shows. She knows what鈥檚 going to happen during them. There鈥檚 only one story.

So this year, the women鈥檚 running gear company is doing something different. To highlight the spring 2018 line, Oiselle is putting on what it鈥檚 calling a . On January 13, in Seattle, 20 women will get three minutes each to perform a spoken word or music piece, slam poetry style.

Oiselle runners, like track and field athlete聽Lauren Fleshman, are speaking, but the lineup also includes a middle schooler, doctors,聽鈥攚ho fought off an attacker who attempted to rape her during a run鈥攁nd a woman in Bergesen鈥檚 weekly running group who recently lost twin daughters during pregnancy.

All the presenters will wear the coming year鈥檚 Oiselle gear, which will help show off the new line, but Bergesen also wanted to host an event where women in the Oiselle community could tell stories about their running experience, both good and bad. 鈥淲e wanted to look at what it means to be a female runner without reducing it to a single narrative,鈥 she says.

Bergesen had聽attended poetry slams in Seattle and liked watching shy-seeming high-school kids bloom on stage when they had an audience, and she liked the energy of a DJ backing spoken word. Bergesen had聽also gotten hooked on author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie鈥檚 turned book, We Should All Be Feminists, and her ideas about broadening the definition of feminism.

There are often tangled lines between what women wear and say and how they鈥檙e perceived, and Bergesen says that鈥檚 particularly true for female athletes, whose value is often tied up in their bodies. She decided to frame this year鈥檚 fashion show as a performance to underscore the ways that clothes can make you feel powerful.

The brand has been focused on running as a tool for parity, in both sports and business, since it started in 2007. Oiselle has spoken out against body shaming, backed the , and waged a sponsorship battle against Nike. Now, by combining a preview of its new gear with stories about women and running, Oiselle aims to put a broader lens on how female athletes are pegged by their physical presentation. 鈥淪tories are how our brains are wired to explain the world. But from a very young age, we鈥檙e also fed stories that construct what it means to be a woman,鈥 Bergesen says. 鈥淲ouldn鈥檛 it be cool to continue to redefine those stories?鈥

Bergesen was already thinking about doing something different, but she says a major part of the impetus for the show came from the political climate. Particularly in the wake of the #MeToo movement, it felt important to give women a platform to talk about feminism, sports, gender-based barriers, bodies, and strength. 鈥淚t鈥檚 this weird dichotomy we鈥檙e in,鈥 she says. 鈥淭he world has their ears open, so it鈥檚 the best of times and the worst of times.鈥

She thinks running can get a bad rap for being cultish, competitive, and only accessible to hyperfit people, and by highlighting different women鈥檚 stories and showing people who aren鈥檛 models or athletes in Oiselle clothes, Bergesen says she hopes she can expand the idea of what it means to be a runner. 鈥淭he point being that it should really be about how the clothes makes you feel鈥攊nstead of how they look.鈥 she says.

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