You’ve been working from home since March. Much like in the Before Times, you probably spend most of the day sitting at a desk (or kitchen table). But now you also lounge on the sofa more than your productivity and posture would prefer. When inspiration strikes and the Zooms are over, you tackle a YouTube workout—hey, it’s still work! If quarantined children are around, you sneak in a few play sessions between meetings. Yogurt gets smeared on your pants.

Ever since the pandemic settled in, this daily routine, with wishy-washy boundaries between downtime and work, burning calories and begging a toddler to gobble some, has become the norm. Going out is out, staying in is inevitably trending. What do you wear to tackle it all? How do you navigate this new life, clothing-wise?

The answer, increasingly, is an emerging category of clothes—let’s call it next-gen athleisure—that aims to cover all bases. They’re both slack and self-respectful, efficient and indulgent, flexible and just impressive enough. Brands that make them—Epoque Evolution, Veilance, Rhone, and others—are deploying high-tech hybrid fabrics, innovative production techniques, and a hyper-flexible approach to assembling a wardrobe, in which a few garments perform multiple roles. They’re creating yoga pants that will, whenever we return to the office, double as totally acceptable office pants. They’re also offering up polo shirts that wick moisture and help regulate body temperature, which makes them equally good for a quick run or a tense budget meeting. They’re delivering soft undershirts you can sleep, sweat, and answer emails in. Colors are primary. Cuts are versatile. These clothes are hard to decipher at first glance; they look at once familiar and brand-new.

Of course, the athleisure category—infusing seemingly sporty clothes with a wear-it-all-day premise—has been booming for a while now. (According to Allied Market Research, the global athleisure market was valued at $155 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $257 billion in 2026.) Running errands in leggings and a hoodie, pre-yoga or instead of it, is considered an efficient way to go from home to gym to store and back.

But when Covid-19 took errands away, the shape-shifting, spry appeal of athleisure seemed to dim. Consumers turned, at first, to pure comfort; by mid-May, searches for sweatpants and cashmere track pants soared more than 85 percent on websites like Moda Operandi and Net-a-Porter. As summer moves in and workplaces slowly reopen, the brands poised to dominate are those that are able to take the flexibility of athleisure, mix it with the indulgence of a fine pajama, and serve it with a utilitarian twist.

“Hybrid clothing has definitely been on the rise,” says Jessica Harman, strategist in activewear at the global trend-forecasting agency WGSN. “The comfort factor and more fluid approach to work and leisure have all played their role. We’ve seen iterations of it in the past, but now, as performance fabrics become more sophisticated, they’re better adapted to bridge the gap between work and leisure.”

Enter a brand like Epoque Evolution, based in Mill Valley, California; its premise is versatile, elegant clothes made from Econyl, described on the company’s website as “a 100% regenerated nylon yarn made from old fishnets and carpets.” Launched in 2011 by the Italian recycling company Aquafil, the patented eco-friendly material has since been adopted by the likes of Burberry and Gucci, making appearances in everything from swimsuits to furniture. The fabric’s robust-yet-fine texture made a star out of Epoque’s Jet Set Trouser. The utterly stretchy pants are so comfortable you’ll never want to take them off, yet they’re just structured enough to inject some motivation into a WFH morning. Machine washable, because yogurt and baby drool.