Modern-day performance sportswear is all about probing the future for inspiration. A 3D-printed sole unit or temperature-regulating smart fabrics – these technological innovations help the wearer leap hurdles, kick balls and cross finishing lines higher, harder and faster than they otherwise would.

The problem is, sci-fi wonder garments aren’t exactly versatile from a style standpoint. Ever tried pairing a compression top with jeans? Suffice to say it’s a surefire way to get yourself laughed out of the pub. But that doesn’t mean combining sportswear and casualwear is altogether forbidden.

Retro sportswear is about as wardrobe-friendly as athletic gear gets. It may have been initially built with the track and field in mind, but over the years its punchy styling, nostalgic charm and comfort have seen it evolve into a menswear mainstay.

“Label-conscious millennials are now looking to heritage brands to make a statement,” explains Kappa brand manager Joy Young. “Meanwhile, adults seek the comfort of the familiar, and endeavor to recapture trends of their youth.”

This, paired with the fact that you no longer need to sift through rails in a musty old second-hand store to find grail pieces, has created a perfect storm for retro sportswear’s return to form. “It’s now easy to trawl the web for choice vintage pieces,” says Umbro marketing director Jason Fairclough. “For the last decade, it’s all been about being tailored and mature [menswear]; now things are starting to swing the opposite way.”

At the fashion end of things, retro sportswear has also been propagated by several recent trends, which have kept it firmly in the spotlight. The ’90s revival, chunky sneaker madness, and the obsession with old-school brands shared by renegade designers like Demna Gvasalia, Gosha Rubchinskiy and Liam Hodges have all helped to make the look into the phenomena it is today.