A portmanteau is a blending of sound and meaning between two words. Examples of this are motel (motor & hotel), brunch (breakfast & lunch), and, more interestingly, athleisure (athletics & leisure). 

Luxury fashion brand, Balenciaga, and athletics brand, Under Armour, have released the new Balenciaga | Under Armour Series, first seen during the Balenciaga Spring 25 show in Shanghai. The collection features men’s and women’s ready-to-wear sneakers, bags, jewelry, sunglasses, and accessories. The two companies sought to create their own portmanteau, literally and figuratively. Ideologically, the collection blends Under Armour’s technical skills and sportswear expertise with Balenciaga’s savoir-faire and silhouette, but in the most tangible of senses, the two brands have literally blended themselves together, with Under Armour’s logo centered over a classic Balenciaga stamp, a recurring element that defines the collection, garment by garment.

The collection’s ready-to-wear items feature Under Armour’s athletic base layer pieces, windbreakers, quarter-zip pullovers, zip-up hoodies, sweatpants, and tracksuit separates coming in a sleek white and black. The nylon tracksuit jacket reverses into a denim zip-up jacket. Jerseys, track pants, shorts, and base-layer tops are also in this series’s collection as hybrid trompe-l’œil pieces--pieces that flirt with and eventually deceive the eye, as they appear as individually layered garments but are fused together as one.

Co-branded special editions of the Balenciaga Runner 3XL have been released alongside the new Hyper Sneaker. Alongside the shoes come practical jewelry--heavy choker necklaces, hoop earrings, and stud silver-plated earrings accompanied by sleek, all-black sunglasses that wrap around the eye region.

This collection offers fans of ergonomic style and luxury alike a live activation of the portmanteau--a strange combination, one fraught with tomfoolery and experimentation, but one that arrives at the confluence of both Balenciaga's and Under Armour's ethos.