The sporting goods store Decathlon is almost perfectly plain, by design. It’s the place to go for cheap flip-flops, off-brand workout gear, and maybe a foam roller for your aging back. It’s the European Dick’s Sporting Goods, sans firearms. 

“Cool” was never part of its strategy, or so you’d think.

But then here came Decathlon France, going full drip via an inconceivably slick collaboration with Marseille concept store Saison, released with a campaign fronted by French football star Antoine Griezmann.

It’s an incredibly smart link-up for the usually sedate sporting goods store. Saison is one of Marseille’s top spots for contemporary streetwear, and the city itself is in the midst of a cultural renaissance that’s had it dubbed the “new Berlin” on the Mediterranean — a cringy moniker I can confirm, given the dozens of people I know making the pilgrimage between cities, including myself.

The collection leans fully into Marseille’s relaxed atmosphere and shifting temperatures typical of a seaside city. There are great adaptable pieces with zip-off paneling, like the 3-in-1 pants that turn into shorts (or shorter shorts) and a 2-in-1 long-sleeve shirt that goes short-sleeved, plus the requisite graphic tees and logo caps. 

But it’s the distinctly Decathlon-leaning pieces that turn this into more than just another streetwear-meets-sportswear collection. There’s a cheap €30 camping chair and even cheaper €17 reflective biking sunglasses, but the big draw is Saison’s update of Decathlon’s own in-house sneaker, the €70 RR2K, a 2000s-inspired silhouette that gives shades of HOKA at less than half the cost. 

In a world where Louis Vuitton regularly releases objects like its $87,000 foosball tables and  $22,000 golf bags, and Prada has a $975 basketball, it’s nice to see some movement on the opposite end of the spectrum. Specifically, a refreshingly unfashionable sporting goods store releasing a collection that’s genuinely cool, without an eye-watering price tag. 

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