Tennis fashion for serving a style ace this summer

Unlike its burlier sporting counterparts, tennis has long been synonymous with good style – whether the bygone elegance of classic tennis whites, the nostalgic glamour of Björn Borg and his 1970s counterparts, or the more outré uniforms of the contemporary power player, from Rafa Nadal’s searingly hued tank tops, Serena Williams’ catsuits and crystals, to Naomi Osaka’s panoply of designer endorsements.

Though it is safe to say that the past few months have pushed tennis fashion deep into the mainstream, largely down to the release of film director Luca Guadagnino’s tennis romp Challengers, starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist as a love triangle on and off the court. On-screen, their tennis uniforms – from emblazoned college wear to sleek grand slam attire – looked particularly seductive thanks to the eye of Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson, who served as costume designer; on the red carpet, Zendaya served up a stream of tennis-themed looks, whether glimmering pleated mini dresses or vertiginous white heels that skewered miniature tennis balls.

And ahead of its Cruise 2025 show in London on Monday (13 May), Gucci has revealed Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner – and his now-trademark on-court Gucci holdall – as its latest campaign star. It comes as the sport prepares for a blockbuster summer: not only does the French Open take place later this month and Wimbledon in July, but the Olympics in Paris, will see the tennis competition held on the famed clay courts of Roland Garros.

It makes it prime time for fashion brands to embrace the zeitgeist with tennis-inspired collections of their own. Here, from Giorgio Armani’s grass court uniform – made to coincide with the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic at London’s historic Hurlingham Club in June – to a Challengers-inspired T-shirt from Loewe, we pick the fashion brands serving a tennis ace this summer.

Fashion brands serving up tennis style

A Giorgio Armani collection inspired by the Hurlingham Club’s Tennis Classic

Each June, the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic takes place at London’s Hurlingham Club, an exhibition tournament on its famed grass courts that serves as an unofficial warm-up tournament for Wimbledon (past participants include Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz). Alongside the glamourous proceedings – the Hurlingham competition has become a fixture on London’s social calendar – Mr Armani has also created a capsule collection of clothing to dress the ball boys, umpires and ground staff at the event. Crafted in simple cream, deep navy and white, the louche, unfussy collection is an exercise in Mr Armani’s nonchalant design codes – epitomised here in easy, unstructured tailoring, crisp white shirting and roomy, sportswear-inspired shorts, for men and women. Completed with the circular Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic motif, the collection is strictly limited-edition – it will be available at the Hurlingham Club in a special pop-up, and for a short time in Giorgio Armani’s London boutique on Sloane Street.

The Hurlingham Club collection is available at Armani’s Sloane Street boutique and at Hurlingham Tennis Club this June.

A monogrammed Gucci tennis bag worn by grand slam champion Jannik Sinner

The 22-year-old Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner – who made it into a select club when he beat Daniil Medvedev earlier this year to win the Australian Open – has long been courted by the Italian fashion house Gucci, first attending the house’s Cruise show in 2022 and becoming an official ambassador later that year. His allegiance has been expressed with his choice of on-court tennis gear, swapping the usual sportswear-branded nylon holdall favoured by players for a custom-made Gucci monogram duffle bag, which is now available for sale (the beige version is available now, while the white version will arrive in stores during May). And, while a hip injury has stopped him from playing the Rome Open, his native country’s home tournament, this week, Gucci has today (9 May 2024) revealed Sinner as its latest campaign star in a series on on-court images by Riccardo Raspa – a surefire sign of the player’s soaring profile (it also puts him on par with Spanish rival Carlos Alcaraz, who has fronted campaigns for Louis Vuitton). The nostalgic mood of the images – emblazoned with ‘Gucci is a feeling’, a slogan from a 1980s campaign – is made to capture the house’s longtime links with the sport, which included the perennial Tennis 1977 sneakers.

The Gucci ‘Maxi Duffle Bag’ is available from gucci.com (£1460) and Gucci stores.

A Brunello Cucinelli tennis capsule instilled with the designer’s distinct brand of sprezzatura

Brunello Cucinelli brings his eye for luxury to a new tennis capsule, no doubt ready to be spotted on court in some of the world’s most exclusive locales this summer. Spanning menswear, womenswear and kidswear – as well as a handful of lifestyle products, from racquet holders to tennis bags – the collection continues Mr Cucinelli’s easygoing sartorial codes, inspired by his native Italy. As such, expect sartorial riffs on the tennis uniform: whether white polo-shirt dresses with gently pleated skirts, crisp pleat-front men’s shorts, or an array of cable-knit sweaters and cardigans (in keeping with Brunello Cucinelli’s brand of sprezzatura, try draped over the shoulder or tied around the waist). A Brunello Cucinelli-branded cotton cap – complete with tennis racquet embroidery – completes the look. ‘[It’s] dedicated to those who live tennis as a lifestyle,’ says the brand.

Brunello Cucinelli's ‘Tennis Sets Capsule Collection’ is available from Net-a-Porter and brunellocucinelli.com, alongside selected stores worldwide.

A Loewe T-shirt from Luca Guadagnino’s sensual tennis thriller ‘Challengers’

Not strictly tennis attire, we know, but it does hail from Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, the erotically charged tennis movie which stars Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor as three rising tennis players caught up in a will-they-won’t-they love triangle set in the run-up to the 2019 US Open (sexual frustrations are taken out on the ball in the film’s high-octane on-court scenes). British designer and Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson was behind the movie’s costumes, including this ’I Told Ya’ T-shirt swapped between Zendaya’s Tashi and O’Connor’s Patrick as they dual it out in sport and romance. ‘As an audience, you're never quite sure who to root for, and clothes are an instrument of that,’ said Anderson, who based the T-shirt on one worn by JFK Jr. To coincide with the film’s release, Anderson has created a Loewe version of the T-shirt, as well as a sweatshirt version, in white or marl grey.

The Loewe ’I Told Ya’ T-shirt (£225) and sweater (£475) are available from loewe.com and selected Loewe stores worldwide.

A tennis-inspired collaboration between Aries and Fila which sees two worlds collide

British skate brand Aries brings its playful, subculture-infused style to a collaboration with Fila, one of the longtime behemoths of the sport, having dressed Björn Borg in his 1970s heyday (and arguably shaped tennis style forever). Shaking up the classic tennis whites, expect zip-front bandage skirts adorned with the Aries and Fila logos, striped sweatbands, and co-branded T-shirts and jackets. The idea of the collaboration was to capture a sense of ‘Italian-ness’ – Sofia Prantera is from Italy, though now lives and works in London – featuring a soft-pastel palette of pinks and greens which are faded through garment dyeing, a longtime fascination of Prantera’s that is also synonymous with Italian streetwear. Eschewing tennis’ occasionally stuffy connotations, the accompanying campaign features sibling musical duo Sons of Raphael, who scored Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla.

Aries x Fila is available from ariesarise.com.

A preppy on-and-off-court uniform from Tory Burch’s Tory Sport

American designer Tory Burch introduced Tory Sport in 2015, crediting the sporty off-shoot as the beginning of a more creative approach to her eponymous mainline label in the way it encouraged her to experiment with shape and form (‘the concept of being ”on brand” and that wasn’t interesting to me because it inhibits creativity... so, over the last five years, I’ve smashed that concept,’ she told Wallpaper* in January). Though Tory Sport runs the gamut of sporting pursuits – each piece instilled with the preppy, playful hallmarks which define the label – recent arrivals have included her take on tennis wear, a nostalgia-tinged collection of white pleated skirts, dropped-waist dresses and 1970s track jackets, some complete with tennis racquet motifs of the Tory Burch monogram. Recalling the hazy glamour of New England summers, the tennis collection is completed with the ‘Convertible Tote’, complete with a removable zip pocket with space for two racquets.

Tory Sport is available from Mytheresa and toryburch.com.