Teens now sweating it

    (KRT) Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow are taken with them.
Call them hip. Call them tacky. No matter. Sweat suits are bouncing through the fashion cycle yet again.

   Boosted by a new popularity last year among the young Hollywood set, sweats have now moved into mainstream fashion. Upscale stores are stocking soft zippered jackets and drawstring pants in a lean silhouette and jersey fabrics.

   Teen girls were wearing the pants last year. The Gap features a “hoodie” jacket in a national advertising campaign that includes Lauren Hutton. Brand labels such as DKNY also offer versions.

   Sweats, of course, are not new. They grew out of the fitness craze in the late 1970s and early ’80s, the era of Jane Fonda and the rush to gyms.

   Then, until a few years ago and to the horror of fashion mavens, sweat suits were relegated to senior citizens who appreciate ease and convenience and to overseas travelers who found them comfortable for long flights.

   But six years ago they began to develop a new cachet when rap artists started wearing them, says Tobe Tucker, fashion marketing director of In Style magazine. Adidas became the big brand to boast.

   “They do not belong anywhere that offers linen napkins at lunch. I think that may be the guideline. Linen napkins or paper napkins,” he said.