NO LONGER JUST FOR ATHLETES, ACTIVEWEAR IS STREET WEAR.

Byline: Anne-Marie Schiro The New York Times

When Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue put snowboarding clothes in their store windows a few weeks ago, it was a clear sign that serious activewear had entered the mainstream.

It's no longer just for athletes. It's fashion.

Names like Nike, Reebok and Fila are competing with names like Karan, Armani and Lauren to dress women in authentic ski and mountain-climbing clothing for their jaunts to the supermarket. For women who have lost their taste for high fashion to those who just want something casual for the weekend, activewear has a strong appeal.

The appeal stems partly from the increasingly casual mood of society, partly from the fitness craze and not least from the glamour associated with star athletes. More people know who Michael Jordan is than have heard of Karl Lagerfeld.

Even men and women who don't work out want to look as if they're on the way to the gym or the playing field. It's a form of acceptable fantasy, like dreams of being a film or rock star. Sport-specific clothes can help the wearer identify with a sports hero and confer some of the athlete's aura of youth, strength and energy. And the clothes are downright attractive, with the sleek fabrics and bright colors many people would shun in their work wardrobes.

Sales of activewear reached more than $32 billion in 1995, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, a trade group, which reported that 86 percent of Americans owned sports apparel, the numbers equally divided between men and women.

But the association also reported that, only 8 percent of the population wore sports apparel strictly for athletic activities.

Which is why recent issues of high-fashion magazines like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Elle have devoted multiple pages to serious athletic wear, showing it worn on the street as well as on the mountain. And sportswear manufacturers, like fashion companies, are opening stores in fashionable areas. Reebok is on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Fila is on a tony strip of Madison Avenue in the upper 60s, and Niketown's new flagship in New York is on East 57th Street across from Chanel and Hermes.

``What you have to realize about outdoor clothing is that it works and it's acceptable everywhere today because of a more relaxed life style,'' said Hap Klopp, president of the Outdoor Industry Group, owner of companies making sports clothing and gear.

``I think one of the factors,'' he said, ``is that in the late '70s and '80s, people were pursuing a lot of money but found that didn't satisfy all the needs. They began looking for more balance in their lives, which meant spending more time with their families. Clothing sort of reflects those inner things. To watch the kids play soccer, you'll wear something sporty, not wing tips or high heels.''

A coming advertising campaign photographed by Peter Arnell for Fila draws upon this life style aspect of athletic wear. The campaign aims to identify the ``Fila woman,'' showing her in activewear in varied activities, and will run in women's magazines starting next March.

Traditionally, women accounted for only one-third of the athletic market, Klopp said. ``But if you monitor things like adventure travel, it's more like 50-50,'' he continued.

``Women spend more on clothing than men do, and they're very particular. They won't buy it if it doesn't look good or doesn't fit, or if they don't like the environment.''

While women once had to settle for men's sports apparel in small sizes, they can now find clothing that is scaled to fit them, with shorter sleeves and shorter waists on jackets, longer rises and smaller waists on pants, wider hips and narrower shoulders.

Manufacturers are working with women who are athletes to determine their needs and are offering lines designed especially for women. There is even a new women's line called Wild Roses, and retailers are segmenting women's athletic clothing in separate stores or departments, for easier shopping.

Athletic clothing is made to function, to keep the wearer warm and dry and to allow for a range of motion. A whole family of technical fabrics, with names like Gore-Tex, Polartec, Cordura nylon and neoprene have become almost as familiar as wool and polyester. And new fibers are constantly being introduced. People who are wearing ski parkas or mountaineering pants on the street obviously do not need linings that wick away the sweat of intense exertion, to prevent hypothermia, or underarm zippers to release excess heat.

``Consumers use the apparel for the functions they choose - the apparel doesn't dictate the use,'' said Carol Pope, an analyst at J.P. Morgan who follows the activewear business. ``The lines between activewear and streetwear have become blurred. Successful apparel is multifunctional.''

It isn't just traditional sports like skiing, skating and biking that are influencing fashion, but also more unusual activities like snowboarding, ice climbing and waterboarding.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1-2) Activewear takes to the streets in North Face's Mountain Light jacket for women and a nylon three-quarter-length fleeced-lined men's parka.