Workout selfies of gym bunnies wearing figure-hugging leggings, short-shorts and biceps-baring tops have become as commonplace as spotting someone slugging down a protein shake on your morning commute. That is to say rife. But this week, the American singer Lenny Kravitz took the genre to a whole new, unforeseen level.

Posting a video to his Instagram, Kravitz was filmed lying on a decline bench press thrusting weighted barbells into the air while his trainer gripped his legs. While his workout technique has received heavy criticism from gym professionals, it is his choice of gym wear – a pair of black leather trousers, a sheer vest, black Cuban heeled boots and bug-eyed blackout sunglasses – that has garnered the most attention online.

“Ain’t got no workout clothes?” commented one user. “Damn bro I need better gym fits,” wrote the rapper Wiz Khalifa.

Kravitz is known for his love of fashion. Throughout his career, the 59-year-old has honed a distinctive 70s-inspired style that revolves around thigh-gripping leather trousers and even tighter T-shirts. But it was a first to see Kravitz wearing his -at his local gym.

Then again, would it have been even more jarring to see him in comfy athleisure? As one user remarked: “My man never breaks character. Full-time rockstar.”

Kravitz isn’t the first to favour their daily uniform for a workout. In 2021, the former prime minister Boris Johnson was pictured jogging in a crisp white shirt and polished brogues. On another occasion he wore a pair of swimming trunks. The actor Richard E Grant regularly posts videos of himself running around Richmond Park in his signature jazzy patterned shirt and jumper.

“Love cotton and loathe Lycra, hence a collared shirt for when it’s nippy on this ol giraffe’s long neck,” the 66-year-old Saltburn star explained in one such video post.

Under Grant’s posts many users shared their own experiences of family members and friends who refuse to embrace specialised moisture-wicking fabric. From skiing in neatly ironed Oxford shirts to lunging in formal cords, it appears to be a trend among a certain older cohort – the same generation that think drinking eight glasses of water a day is some kind of conspiracy theory.

Some users question if Grant and others are, in fact, on to something. Rather than wearing tight-fitting workout clothes, perhaps the secret to exercising is just to get up and go in whatever you feel comfortable in? In 1983, Cliff Young, a 61-year-old farmer, won the inaugural 875km ultramarathon between Sydney and Melbourne wearing his work overalls and gumboots. In 2016, 23-year-old Juris Silenieks won an Atlanta half marathon wearing brown dress shoes, while illustrations from Good Housekeeping in the 1920s show women performing push-ups in pyjamas. “Gym suits” from the time consisted of long-sleeved blouses with sailor collars and pleated bloomer shorts worn over tights.

While Grant’s cotton shirts won’t give you the same dry feeling as chemically derived synthetic materials, cotton will keep your body cool. But, for those tempted by Kravitz’s leather pants, prepare for a post-workout struggle to take them off.