Distance and Strava crash Paris Fashion Week with a fashion show on steroids
Following the Outlaw Runners and Rob it to get it campaigns, the Distance concept store and its agency BETC have teamed up with Strava to present “The CatRace,” the fashion show that's too fast to see. Blink and you'll miss it.
Paris Fashion Week 2025 kicked off on Tuesday, June 24, and since then, the heart of the capital has been buzzing with excitement. The fashion extravaganza brings together all its fans for a week of shows from the biggest fashion houses. And for several years now, it has not been uncommon to see the world of haute couture appropriating the codes of sportswear on the catwalks, in a context where sport itself seems far removed.
With the help of the BETC agency, Distance and Strava have decided to put sport back at the heart of sportswear by launching The CatRace: the first fashion show where the models don't walk the catwalk... they run.
Rather than presenting the looks on supermodels strutting their clothes in style, the running-specialized concept store and the famous sports app unveiled outfits in real-life conditions: on exhausted athletes having just finished an energetic race. And on the catwalk, models were replaced by top athletes.
"Fashion Week was the perfect time to confront Distance's values with the world of fashion, whose vision of sportswear is often very far removed from sport itself." Guillaume Pontier, co-founder of Distance.
An audience of fashion aficionados and select guests attended this high-energy show, which lasted less than a minute, with the different looks passing by at unexpected pace, leaving the audience no time to get bored.
“For us, it was obvious to build a bridge between the creative professions of fashion and the world of sports, particularly during this culturally significant period in France and internationally.” Grégory Vermersch - Strava EMEA Lead
The outfits, created by fashion stylist Stephy Galvani, are obviously inspired by the world of running. Nylon, tulle, polyester, laces, bags, straps... the materials and accessories reinterpret sports elements to rethink sportswear with a haute couture vision.
“Putting sportswear into action during a fashion show seemed obvious. That's how it's meant to be experienced.” Stephy Galvani, fashion designer.
The event, as well as the campaign, was produced by Soldats, with Guillaume Allantaz directing and photographing, bringing an aesthetic vision that breaks with the classic codes of fashion show recap videos.
“We wanted to put sports back into sportswear with Distance, while still merging fashion and sports. And there is no better partner than Strava to bring this mission to life and reinforce this brand promise.” Damien Clanet, associate director at BETC.
The show, which was obviously too fast to fully enjoy on site, will soon be available on @distanceathletics Instagram, with a slow-motion replay to have time to discover Distance's various outfits, which are undoubtedly fashionable. The lookbook, which will soon be available on Distance's social media platforms, will also put sport in the spotlight, once again showing the brand's values.
THIS IS HOW WE RUN A FASHION SHOW.
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CREDITS:
Brands: Distance & Strava
Brand Managers: Guillaume Pontier, Lionel Jagorel (for Distance), Grégory Vermersch, Angèle Paty (for Strava)
Ad Agency: BETC Paris
Agency Managers: Damien Clanet, Mathieu Laugier
President & Chief Creative Officer: Stéphane Xiberras
Art Directors: Jérémy Treccani, Natan Ritaly
Copywriters: Baptiste Szuwarski, Corentin Salignat
Production Company: SOLDATS
Director: Guillaume Allantaz
Cinematographer: Stephan Mühlau
Executive Producer: Pierre Cazenave Kaufman
Producer: Camille Bigot
Line Producers: Laurianne Métais Weymann, Lucie Calvez
Stylist: Stephy Galvani
Set Design: Michael Horchman
Set Designer Assistants: Nicolas Thellier, Alice Conjaud, Marian Loaiza-Ramos, Narek Galstyan, Emilie Streit, Eline Rouze
Post-Production: 1to1 Paris
Editors: 1to1, Guillaume Allantaz, Grégoire “NaZa” Giral
Color Grading: 1to1 – Grégoire Giral, Youri Borg
Music: Fayf Abad / BMM Network
Handles: @faafabad, @bmmnetwork
1st Air Date: 01 July 2025
