How Tennis Apparel Became The Look Of The Summer

This summer, when Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff, and a slew of other world-class players hit the courts at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, they weren’t the only ones sporting full tennis gear. The sports apparel, long the unofficial uniform of stuffy country clubs and private-school pickup lines everywhere, has taken on somewhat of a new life in recent months, both on the street and on social media. Younger generations have come to embrace the once traditional garb, finding a sort of effortless cool in its classic pleats, and even if they’ve never picked up a racket or set foot on a baseline, they are donning tennis skirts and polos like they’re fresh off a final set.

Between May and September of this year, Google searches for tennis skirts, dresses, polo shirts, and the like climbed, and photos of the sports staples, paired with oversized vintage sweatshirts and tees, covered Instagram and TikTok feeds. The seemingly overnight interest in tennis gear quickly gave birth to a new aesthetic: tenniscore.

In reaction to this trend—or perhaps just in rather serendipitous timing—a long list of brands have begun producing or expanding their tennis offerings. Where Nike, Adidas, and FILA once reigned supreme, established fashion designers, like Tory Burch’s Tory Sport and Rowing Blazers, and emerging brands, like KULE, Danzy, and Year of Ours, are now making tennis-inspired clothing of their own. And increasingly often, customers are not only choosing their tenniscore looks over those of conventional athletic brands, but they are also choosing them over normal streetwear.

Not unlike the overall rise of athleisure over the last year and a half, tennis clothing’s current moment is at least in part a result of the pandemic. “Tennis is a great outdoor activity,” says Nikki Kule, the founder and creative director of KULE. “It’s been a great way to keep active during the pandemic, and it introduced, or re-introduced, the sport to a lot of people.”

Although tennis has always been an inspiration for KULE and a factor in its brand DNA, it wasn’t until the Spring/Summer 2021 collection, released earlier this year, that the founder and her team decided to incorporate the sport into a logo. “We thought the tennis-inspired patterns would be a fun addition, so we put a KULE Tennis logo on a men’s and women’s sweatshirt, a tee, and socks,” she explains. They’ve already had to restock the collection twice.

Marshall Danzy, the founder of millennial-favorite clothing brand Danzy, felt a drawing towards tennis around this time. “In the early spring of this year, Revolve Clothing reached out to me about designing a tennis capsule collection,” she recalls. “I thought it was a missing concept in the fashion market and really felt it would be a great opportunity as well as creatively exciting.”

The collection, Danzy says, was inspired by 90’s icons like Princess Diana and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s Ashley Banks, alongside tennis legends like Stefi Graf and Serena Williams. “The pleated skirt, cap, and crewneck are all a nod to that era,” she adds.

Year of Ours, a young athletic apparel brand, has seen tennis as more of a natural inclusion when building its offerings, which include a bestselling tennis skort. The brand prides itself on creating well-fitting sportswear that compliments bodies of all shapes and sizes, and founder Eleanor Haycock believes that’s what makes its tennis collection stand out.

“This trend was made for everyone and we are a brand that offers pieces that are also made for everyone,” she says. “And whether you are wearing our pieces as an everyday outfit or to actually play tennis in, the quality is high-performance in everything to the shorts under the skirt being fit to hold tennis balls to the length of the skirt hem being feminine yet still ideal for playing the sport.”

For Rowing Blazers founder and creative director, Jack Carlson, tennis was a second sport not only for him personally but also for his brand. “Tennis was always my ‘other’ sport, and in high school, I once quit the rowing team to play tennis until the coach begged me to come back,” he explains. “But more importantly than that, I’ve always been inspired by tennis style. The sport is so full of iconic individuals—and yet it’s a game based around dress codes.”

Rowing Blazers was ahead of the curve and actually introduced its first tennis-themed apparel back in 2019, but it has continued to expand those offerings this year. Like KULE, the brand has created an emblem from tennis rackets, which is emblazoned across hats, sweaters, and even on the lycra shorts underneath tennis skirts. But also built in to the tennis gear is its signature playfulness, as evidenced by its “Tennis Anyone?” designs, a nod to the famous “Anyone for tennis?” phrase thought to have been coined by George Bernard Shaw, and its three-way collaboration with FILA and Babar the Elephant.

But unlike other brands taking part in the tenniscore trend, Rowing Blazers isn’t making tennis clothing to be worn on the court. “We’ve been leaning into nostalgic tennis-inspired pieces that aren’t actually intended to be performance wear,” Carlson says, adding that it’s more comfortable and more fun. “Tennis gear is upbeat, comfortable, and has connotations of both leisure and athleticism. What more could you want?”