tracksmith

tracksmith was founded in 2014 by matt taylor, a former collegiate runner who wanted to make apparel that looked like it belonged in a 1970s new england athletic club — and performed like it was made for the 2020s. the aau aesthetic, the cream and forest green palette, the merino wool singlets: tracksmith found a lane nobody else was in and built something enduring in it. the boston base matters. tracksmith operates a retail store on newbury street, runs an annual marathon-week event series, and has become genuinely embedded in the boston running community in a way that most brands can't fake. their limited-edition drops sell out. their boston marathon collaborations are a calendar event for a certain type of runner. the gear itself is premium. merino-blend singlets that can do a tempo run or a dinner. the session short is one of the most discussed running shorts in the community. the haglöfs-influenced outerwear holds up in real weather. none of it is cheap, and none of it needs to be. our take: tracksmith is the aspirational brand in this space — the one that proved there was a market for running gear with craft and heritage behind it. we feature them because no honest curation of indie running brands is complete without them.