Why This Aesthetic Endures
Before we started naming trends and packaging “looks”, there were simply men running through the city at 7am — in grey sweatshirts, navy shorts, scuffed trainers. They weren’t crafting an identity. They were getting somewhere. And somewhere between the pavement and the park loop, they wrote one of menswear’s most quietly elegant uniforms.
What we now recognise as a mood was once just a routine: movement woven into a day, not a lifestyle to be marketed. The clothes weren’t the point; they were the infrastructure. And in 2025, when men crave ease, clarity and purpose in what they wear, this uniform feels sharper than ever.
1. The Men Who Ran Between Meetings
Picture the frame: early morning on the Upper East Side. Pavement still damp. A man passing in a soft grey crewneck, navy shorts, white socks — moving with the calm certainty of someone who already knows how his day will unfold.
John F. Kennedy Jr. remains the clearest reference. Long stride, slightly unbothered hair, a sweatshirt that could go straight to brunch, trainers chosen for support rather than symbolism. No stylist. No performance. Just a run, squeezed into the only quiet space on a crowded schedule.
That’s the essence: running as architecture. A quiet ritual holding the rest of life upright. The “look” is simply the residue of a habit.
2. The Uniform: Grey, Navy, White, Repeat
The formula is almost aggressively simple — which is why it’s still the most reliable:
- Grey marl sweatshirt or hoodie, washed not new.
- Navy or black running shorts, or straight-cut track pants.
- White crew socks, mid-calf.
- Neutral running shoes — New Balance, Nike, Asics — slightly worn in.
- A real, functional watch.
Grey, navy, white and black dissolve naturally into a city. You can run, grab a coffee, cross town, and never feel out of place. Fit is disciplined: sweatshirts skim rather than swallow, shorts sit above the knee, shoes are chosen for the miles they can handle. Nothing screams — because the elegance lies in the non-performance.
3. Elegance in the Non-Decisions
What made these men look so sharp was what they didn’t choose. Logos faded. Colours restrained. Accessories kept to the essentials: a navy cap, slim sports sunglasses, black gloves in winter.
No curated belt bag, no performance scarf, no colour-matched bottle. The only visible statement was the body in motion — shoulders open, pace steady, headphones in just enough to suggest a private universe.
It’s the contrast that still resonates: completely inside the run, completely at ease in the city.
4. Running as a Way of Living
This was never about identity. It was a system. A way to clear a mind before emails. To land in a new time zone. To absorb whatever the day would require.
That’s why the images from the 90s don’t feel nostalgic — they feel adult. They weren’t crafted as content. They were documentation. Style as a by-product of a habit.
Today, everyone is trying to make movement fit somewhere between inbox and commute. The difference is that marketing arrived, printed slogans, and made it a category.
The original version was quieter. More grown-up. Less hashtag, more alarm clock.
5. The New Guard Reviving the Archetype
The reason this aesthetic feels fresh again is simple: men want clothes that can live like this — clean, calm, athletic without shouting.
Sporty & Rich has become the clearest bridge to that world. Their sweatshirts read like membership cards from an era of tennis courts, park loops and running clubs. Colours echo the original Manhattan palette: grey marl, forest green, navy, off-white.
From another angle, Aimé Leon Dore has made the “dad running shoe” feel considered again. Through New Balance collaborations, the 990 and its younger siblings sit naturally under coats, rugby shirts and nylon shorts — exactly how the original runners wore them: functional first, aesthetically convincing by accident.
Around them, brands are circling the same idea: cashmere track sets, tennis-inspired capsules, muted performance layers designed not for the match, but for the life happening around it.
6. How to Wear It Now (Without Costume)
The point isn’t to dress like 1996. It’s to borrow the logic — clarity, function, restraint — and apply it to 2025.
- Keep the palette narrow. Grey, navy, white, black. One accent colour only if needed.
- Wear pieces you’d actually sweat in. If it feels “too precious” for a run, it breaks the story.
- Let the shoes be serious. Pick shoes for motion, not street style.
- Respect proportions. Shorts above the knee, sweatshirts that move with you, socks mid-calf.
- Finish like an adult. A real watch. A simple cap. Sunglasses that function.
When done right, you don’t look like you’re on the way to a race. You look like movement is simply built into your life.
What This Aesthetic Really Reveals
The final image isn’t a trend story. It’s a portrait. A man who runs — not to prove anything, not to signal discipline, not to be admired — but because it makes him feel more like himself.
The clothes just follow.