I’m not sure if I’m late on picking up on this, but it seems that the idea of intentionally developing an athletic brand in to a lifestyle has morphed into a full-speed trend. Recently, Speedo announced plans to bring the athletic swim wear brand up to speed with some of the more fashion-friendly athletic labels, (like Adidas for example, which after an organic development in to the cult of Hip Hop decades ago, has in more recent years, employed designers Stella McCartney and Yohji Yamamoto to further “lifestyle” branding potential). Speedo director Sheree Waterson, told Womens Wear Daily that, “we want to layer on the cool factor. We are taking Speedo out of the water and on to the land.”

According to the article plans for the brand development include, among other things, “pumping up the new activewear line with more fashion-forward products,” and including “more fashionable looks in the core performance swim offerings and the introduction of new performance technologies.”

Sounds like a good idea for a company whose worldwide sales last year reached the one billion mark, and which already enjoys having 50 percent of the market share of athletic swim gear.

WWD noted in the same week, that Converse will soon introduce its own contemporary clothing line.

David McTague, president of apparel and accessories at Converse, told WWD that: “Our intention is to build a lifestyle brand that is equal or surpasses the footwear business.”

To do so, the iconic shoe brand is employing designer John Varvatos, who has previously designed shoes for the brand, to create contemporary sportswear collections for both men and women, and will combine “vintage references with an urban downtown feel.”

Its a style that the shoe company won't have to try to hard to sell, no matter what designer name they tack on to it, be cause like Adidas, the Converse brand was long ago embrased by a subculture (punk rockers and downtown kids this time), all without the help of any expensive brand development campaigns.

The only saving grace, I find, is the news coming from Speedo, because I for one, as a former compedtive swimmer and part-time life guard, rejoice in the idea of simply finding at least on decent looking bathing suit.