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Adidas becomes first activewear brand to debut period-proof apparel

Adidas is making it easier to prevent leakage during your menstrual cycle. (Photo by Adidas)
Adidas is making it easier to prevent leakage during your menstrual cycle. (Photo by Adidas)

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Over 900 million in the world experience a menstrual cycle, so why isn't there decent fitness apparel to help protect them from possible leakage? With its latest innovation, Adidas is working to erase the stigma behind discussing something so many encounter, and they teamed up with an influential athlete to help launch the product.

"I am someone who menstruates, so this is a very personal campaign to my heart," Minnesota Lynx guard Layshia Clarendon said to Yahoo Sports about working alongside Adidas for the Stay in Play campaign. "I am a professional athlete, so I play sports and menstruate once a month. I have actually been menstruating when I won a gold medal in the world championships so it’s something very close to my heart that I deal with on a monthly basis."

Clarendon made history when she became the first WNBA player to openly identify as transgender and non-binary. For the 30-year-old, it made complete sense to work alongside Three Stripes as the face of this extremely important initiative.

A product two years in the making, Adidas debuted the TechFit Period Proof collection on June 15. The first two products, tights ($65) and bike shorts ($45), boast a three-layer pad that wicks away and absorbs the rest. Finally, a bonding frame holds each layer together and keeps the tights in place, ensuring protection no matter the workout.

To support their reasoning behind the campaign, Adidas released a study that found one in four people worldwide who menstruate during adolescence will stop playing sports because they’re afraid of period leakage. For Clarendon, she hopes this is the start of erasing the fear within teenage athletes and replacing it with confidence.

"It’s hard enough to show up and play sports and deal with the competitiveness and the excitement and not be worried about ‘am I leaking?’ or 'am I bleeding?’ and the stress and weight of it. Having a tight that you can put on and just know I am good and protected and I can just focus on the game, the community, the fun and the sport, is everything. Because, at the end of the day, when you are performing, you don’t want anything to be distracting you."

The TechFit Period Proof collection is just a part of the brand’s mission to keep more women and girls in sport with more inclusive product offerings. Earlier this month, Adidas also launched an 18-piece modest swimwear collection that includes a waterproof hijab.

You can shop both the TechFit Period Proof and full-cover swimwear collection at adidas.com. We linked both products of the former capsule below.