What are we supposed to do with all this tenniscore?

Since ‘Challengers’, tenniscore has cemented itself in fashion with Zendaya’s method dressing in brands like Loewe and Thom Browne during her press tour, and other brands like Skims launching tennis-inspired collections or Roger Federer’s brand On recently collaborating with BEAMS on a versatile shoe for the tennis court and beyond. Tennis fashion has changed a lot through the decades but be it through a Chanel tennis racquet or a white Lacoste shirt, prep fashion has had a perennial association with the lives of the privileged. Films often reflect this class battle best, like in ‘Palm Royale’ (2024), a new entrant to an old money society, Maxine Dellacorte has to admit on the tennis court that she barely knows the game. 

Fashion has always been intrigued by uniforms – two years ago, Miuccia Prada decided to celebrate Miu Miu’s fall/winter ‘22 collection at a tennis club in New York City. The collection itself took from the traditional tennis outfit in many ways, eschewing the usual proportions and accessories of a white tennis ensemble. Speaking about her continuing return to uniforms, Prada, in an interview with Katie Grand for System, said that, «It’s something official that you present (in a uniform). And you don’t have to tell anyone anything about yourself.» Uniforms, probably more than any other garment, become unspoken markers of identity with their officiousness, which then becomes the first line of information interpreted by others. Tenniscore is thus not far away from quiet luxury that dominated last year after the finale of ‘Succession’ – games like golf, cricket and tennis were fickle pursuits for the elite, who created their own codes of tasteful appearance while playing. White was chosen as the outfit’s colour to uphold «modesty and purity», writes Robert J. Lake in ‘The Social History of Tennis in Britain’ and «crucially for females, it kept players cool and hid perspiration patches» This is clearly evident in ‘Challengers’ where Art Donaldson, who struggles to maintain his top position, still exerts a tremendous amount of control over his image. He is dressed in crisp, white Uniqlo shirts, conveying a stoic, focused and unfazed image – whereas his opponent Patrick Zweig’s messy, sweat-drenched black tank – an unknown brand Impatto, is supposed to emphasise he is barely scraping by on court and outside, living paycheque to paycheque. 

Miu Miu

Miu Miu

Miu Miu

Many brands who have released tennis-inspired garments in their collections recently and throughout the years, have almost unanimously decided to work with white as the base colour. Tibi’s resort ‘25 collection, shot against a white backdrop which blows in the wind to reveal a tennis court, very much gives private school with emblems on dark blazers, styled with a white skirt or a lighter shirt. The epitome of quiet luxury, Brunello Cucinelli, came out with a spring/summer ‘24 capsule collection inspired by tennis, with clean lines and sharp tailored silhouettes on white. Celine’s summer ‘23 tennis capsule collection flirted with casual sportswear, styling a tank with the whimsicality of a jeans – once again primarily white. Sporty & Rich’s tennis drop last month, exuded Wimbledon chic in white. «At Wimbledon you have to play in all white, which is a marker of civilised’ sport,» reflects the writer Lauren Cochrane, «Unlike football, where players are covered in mud and therefore, dirty and therefore, not as presentable or respectable. I think that’s why it’s more popular with the high fashion brands – it’s an easy one for them to digest» Moreover, the choice of white is interesting as most tennis tournaments have moved away from the all-white rule to more colourful iterations – like a US star-printed tee on Jennifer Capriati by FILA or a leopard-print dress at the 2014 US Open, worn by Serena Williams. Why then do fashion brands continue to pursue white, when referring to tennis? «Something like football or maybe basketball has a wider fanbase,» explains Cochrane, «Cricket and tennis tend to have more of an affluent fanbase, which means luxury brands are speaking directly to them.” Cucinelli, who reportedly creates “uniforms for the wealthy», was frequently seen on ‘Succession’, along with other stealth wealth brands like Loro Piana and The Row. 

Over the years, tennis has moved away from merely being a sport in country clubs and elite backyards to diversifying access. Some brands have chosen to move away from normative white to louder and bolder designers, which takes tennis to the realm of streetwear. Lacoste entered Paris Fashion Week this March and one of their sweaters, although still on a base of white, had bold letters that proclaimed it was from a tennis championship along with a louder shade of green accompanied with blue stripes. A look from the spring/summer ‘24 collection for Dsquared2, features a cropped sweater over a tennis jersey titled Toronto Tennis Club, styled with jeans – clearly the tennis jersey is not the focus anymore, and has instead turned into the everyday wear, like a fan would wear a football jersey, which becomes a proclamation of fandom more than anything else.