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Tim Soar never intended to start a running brand. Growing up he was never into sports, and admits that he’d escape behind bike sheds to smoke cigarettes whenever there were cross country runs at school. He spent most of his professional career immersed in London’s creative scene, as a designer and a DJ, living a not particularly healthy lifestyle.
A mid-life pivot in his 40s to prioritize his own health led him to discover cycling and then, more intensely, running. Like many entrepreneurs, Soar's entry into the space stemmed from personal frustration. The more he ran, the more he found himself perpetually disappointed by the technical gear available. Even premium brands weren't meeting the exacting standards he envisioned. Drawing on his background in design and high-fashion, Soar began sketching out ideas for running gear that would merge elite-level performance with sophisticated aesthetics.
In 2015, he launched Soar Running from a small studio in London. The brand's early pieces—particularly their race bib—quickly gained cult status among serious runners. They became known for designs that did justice to the commitment and passion of runners, which often meant pushing the boundaries of textile innovation and tailoring.
Nowadays, the brand is more akin to a product development studio than an apparel company; they create out of necessity, and will oftentimes spend over two years refining a prototype before bringing the garment to market.
I’ve been testing and reviewing running clothes for years––if you name a brand, I’ve probably tested half a dozen of their garments, at least. And I’ve found that once you get a taste of wearing Soar, it’s hard to wear anything else. You’ll start identifying the flaws in stitching or the lacking performance of a material across ordinary running clothes. Moving back to standard gear after a session in Soar is like stepping out of a Lamborghini and back into a Kia; yes, the latter gets you where you're going, but you're suddenly aware of every compromise in its construction.
What makes Soar a mark above the rest? Glad you asked.
Soar’s Design Philosophy
At the heart of Soar is a rejection of the "lifestyle" creep that has diluted modern sportswear. While most major brands design for the "coffee runner,” Soar designs exclusively for performance. The aesthetic is a byproduct of the engineering. In other words, a garment’s beauty must emerge from its functionality. This was also how Steve Jobs famously viewed good design: “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
Every Soar product begins with a problem or an intention. If there is no fabric available that meets the needs the team has envisioned for a product, they will develop a new one. In working with the world’s leading sportswear and material science factories, in combination with the latest production techniques, Soar is able to create fast, light, and ergonomic garments that feel as tailor made for running as an elite Rapha kit does for cycling.
Take just a few examples: Soar’s Advanced Race System of shorts and vest weighs less than 100g. The brand’s new titanium sunglasses made in collaboration with London-based Cubitts are the lightest running specific sunglasses on the market. And their latest running vest uses a unique silk blend fabric that is capable of absorbing up to 30% of its weight in moisture without feeling damp. Soar isn’t just making basic “moisture-wicking” running shirts; they are contributing to the evolution of the sport.
The Soar range for men and women is split into five core categories designed to meet specific performance requirements.
- xRACE. I’d call this the "Marginal Gains" division. This is purely for racing—ultralight, aerodynamic, and aggressively technical.
- xRUN. Designed for the high-mileage daily grind, prioritizing thermal regulation and durability across all four seasons.
- xTRAIL. The adaptation of Soar’s technical precision for the unpredictable terrain and vertical demands of off-road running.
- xHEAT: Lightweight fabrics and intelligent detailing designed for training in high temperatures.
- PROTLAB. The R&D "What If?" incubator. Inspired by the prototypes used in elite sub-2-hour marathon attempts, this is where Soar tests "bleeding edge" concepts (such as graphene-integrated fabrics or one-piece aero suits) in small-batch releases.
This level of uncompromising material integrity carries an inevitable premium. Soar’s running tees, for instance, start at $100 and go up to $315. They also sell a $480 rain shell and $365 cargo run shorts. Acquiring Soar is far removed from picking up the latest drop from the likes of Nike, Bandit, or Tracksmith. It is admittedly a steep barrier to entry that reflects the cost of R&D and elite manufacturing. By design, Soar is not built for the mass market, and the brand operates with a quiet, unapologetic confidence in that exclusivity.
The Best Soar Has to Offer
I’ve spent the last three years living in the Soar ecosystem, with many of their pieces being featured in my write-ups about the industry’s best running gear. Putting many of their garments through such a long stress test has helped me separate the absolute workhorses from the items where that premium price tag is a bit harder to defend. If you’re ready to buy into the system, here is the curated shortcut to the gear that actually pays off.
If there’s a single garment that best encapsulates what Soar has been chasing since day one, it’s the Race Vest. From the brand’s earliest collections, Soar built its reputation on obsessing over the seemingly simple singlet, treating it like the runner’s holy grail uniform. The Race Vest 2.0 is the latest expression of that philosophy. Weighing a scarcely believable 44 grams(!), it uses an ultralight Italian SPACE3D mesh that pulls sweat away almost as quickly as your body can produce it, creating a sensation of feeling cooler the harder you run. It grabs your body like a second-skin, and genuinely feels like you’re running with nothing on (in a good way). Run clubs have flocked to Soar over the years to customize their own team’s singlets, and I’ve personally seen a massive influx of runners sporting the Race Vest over the years in my local New York Marathon. The Race Vest to Soar is like the Pegasus to Nike.
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If you’ve ever had a lightweight running shirt turn into a heavy, sweat-soaked towel a few miles into a humid July session, the Hot Weather T is the antidote. Soar essentially built this by splicing two different fabrics together based on what your body actually experiences under the sun. The torso uses an incredibly airy, open-weave mesh that lets the breeze cut right through, while the shoulders and upper back transition into a tightly knit, silky Italian fabric that offers UPF 50 sun protection where the rays hit hardest. The tailored fit keeps it floating just off the skin, and the fully bonded seams mean you don’t need to worry about chafing. Yes, the shirt is slim fit, but that’s what helps it absorb and evaporite your sweat, which helps to keep you cool. If I had a Hot Weather T for every day of the week, I’d wear it for every run.
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For speed sessions, these are the bottoms I grab. They don’t have as many pockets as other half tights on the market (just one big phone pocket in the back), but what they lack in cargo space they make up for in speed and feel. To this day, they are the closest thing I’ve found to a second-skin race bottom. Granted, they are thin enough to feel intimidatingly minimal if you’re used to a thicker, more compressive fabric. But if you want an ultralight, barely-there tight that refuses to sag, ride up, or require a single adjustment at threshold pace, these are unmatched. A massive part of that success comes down to the laser-cut edge and the internal grip tape around the thighs; it's the best execution I’ve experienced in a running bottom, staying glued in place without ever pinching. They’re simple, effective, and barely there.
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For more coverage than Soar’s half tight, I turn to their Dual Run Shorts. Lots of running products will make a claim of being “precision engineered,” but these shorts truly mean it. The hems are laser cut, the seams are flat-lock, and a nearly invisible thigh-length liner sits right underneath a relaxed and ultra-lightweight shell. Running in these shorts feels like the difference between running in shoes that weigh 300g vs 200g. On paper, it may not read like a tremendous difference. But you’ll feel it once you’re out on the road.
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I’ve previously stated in my cold-weather running round-up that this piece is the “the best winter top I’ve ever run in.” When the weather turns, or you just need a protective layer for a high-intensity workout on a crisp morning, this is the first garment I reach for. The design features a silky-smooth, brushed fleece interior for immediate next-to-skin comfort, paired with an outer membrane that offers unparalleled protection against biting wind and light rain. Unlike traditional winter layers that trap sweat and leave you feeling heavy and restricted three miles in, this top strikes the perfect balance between thermal regulation and uninhibited freedom of movement. If you were to splurge on one winter running piece, make it this one.
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When designing their first hydration vest, Soar started at first principles: if you throw away everything you know, what does the perfect hydration system look like? Where they landed isn’t a traditional vest, but a true garment—1,000ml system that completely locks in place and disappears in motion. The centerpiece is a proprietary flask co-developed with Hydrapak, contoured to arc cleanly around the anatomy of your torso (yes, there are separate male and female versions of this product, which is something you rarely ever see amongst hydration vests). It also brilliantly showcases Soar’s expertise in textile engineering with a breathable mesh along the spine, a Dyneema blend across the front, and a flexible French-woven stretch fabric at the sides. In short: it is both remarkably comfortable and virtually indestructible. Storage is also intuitively embedded across eight flush pockets, including zipped torso compartments for the flasks, quick-access side slots for nutrition, and a secure rear expandable pocket for shedding layers. Having tested countless vests on the market during my long runs, I know there are plenty of cheaper options that get the job done just fine. However, if carrying your hydration has always felt like a bouncy, frustrating chore, Soar’s solution completely solves the problem.
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At a time when sportswear is increasingly diluted by lifestyle trends, Soar stands out by remaining fiercely dedicated to pure, uncompromised performance. There is no denying that the financial barrier to entry is high, but as pieces like the Race Vest and the ADV Windbreaker prove, you aren't paying for a logo—you are paying for exhaustive research and development that results in genuinely superior products. For the casual jogger, standard gear will always suffice; but for the runner who demands equipment that works as hard as they do, investing in the Soar ecosystem is a definitive point of no return.
