Tenniscore Fashion Boom Extends to Footwear

As tennis pros wear the white of Wimbledon, brands around the world continue to embrace all things tennis-inspired, now dubbed tenniscore. We've already seen non-traditional tennis brands get involved in fashion, but this trend is now extending in a big way to footwear.

“It’s all about getting more eyes on tennis,” American tennis star Coco Gauff told me. “And I love that fashion can be a part of that. It’s not just New Balance, it’s all the brands that are elevating their courts.” [looks].

A company making a tennis-inspired skirt or sweater is one thing, but the commitment required for brands to create a fully tennis-inspired footwear silhouette requires another level of dedication.

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Tennis, with its iconic elements from Grand Slam tournaments to fair play and its sleek aesthetic, has long influenced fashion and popular culture, captivating communities around the world, Alex Griffin, CMO of On, tells me.

This means that the lifestyle of popular culture has long been tied to tennis. When we talk about lifestyle, we are referring to the lifestyle of sport, specifically tennis, Bryan Poemer, president and general manager of Diadora USA, tells me. Our Heritage and Sportswear collections, which represent our lifestyle range, are directly inspired by Diadora’s rich history and extensive catalogue of tennis categories.

Catherine Spindler, deputy general manager of Lacoste, tells me that tennis and everything associated with it, particularly in terms of elegance and lifestyle, are increasingly celebrated in today’s culture. Sneakers are also at the heart of this growing trend, she says, adding that the brand draws on its rich heritage in sport to combine sport and fashion.

It’s this legacy, both in design and culture, that gives tennis its staying power. Barney Waters, president of K-Swiss Global Brands, told me that tennis has long been a major inspiration for lifestyle sneakers, particularly with the strong influence of simple, sleek white-based designs. “These styles have proven to be timeless, and our classic tennis styles have been a part of our lifestyle line for decades,” Waters says. “Tennis has always been an aspirational sport, played by the rich and famous, which always lends itself well to sneakers for style or fashion.”

For New Balance, there’s a connection to tradition and what it represents. Tennis, particularly vintage tennis, has been a mainstay of recent trends due to its association with preppy institutions and a minimalist, timeless aesthetic, says Jack Warner, product manager on the New Balance T500 lifestyle shoe. As the oldest and arguably most prestigious tennis tournament in the world, Wimbledon itself embodies this type of inspiration through its heritage and traditions.

With this rich historical nature, brands have both unique archives from their own past and stylistic influences spanning decades. The 1970s brought the low-key designs often associated with tennis-inspired looks to the forefront, while the 1980s began to incorporate more technology. The 1990s ramped up both technology and material usage, giving rise to a more rugged shoe style. As shoemakers create lifestyle versions for today, they can mix and match both brand archives and decade-specific inspiration.

According to Poemer, Diadora’s historical roots in sports allow the brand to remain relevant in today’s market. And they’ve really taken advantage of that opportunity, offering some of the most fashionable, yet luxurious, styles for a tennis-inspired lifestyle. The Italian-made silhouettes of the B.560 and B.Elite both have a direct connection to tennis and exemplify the range of historical styles. The B.Elite is directly inspired by a 1980 model that is reminiscent of a 1970s look, while the B.560 is the brand’s latest, a 1990s tennis-inspired design.

K-Swiss, which has specialized in tennis since 1966, uses the sport to develop its entire range of footwear, with a lifestyle offering now consisting of a complete mix, including the new Slamm 99 CC, a version of the Ascendor performance shoe from the early 1990s, and the Lozan Match, a version of the tennis shoe from the 1970s.

Lacoste’s Tennis Heritage line is all about celebrating the brand’s tennis roots, but it’s reinterpreted in a contemporary way. In addition to its performance tennis line, Spindler explains that the brand is also looking to merge the world of tennis into its Active line, drawing inspiration from the sport’s history in other pursuits, such as the L003 franchise for running.

Warner explains that New Balance has taken inspiration from models like the CT300 and CT302 in recent years, one being directly related to a 1979 silhouette and the other being an updated take on vintage tennis. The T500 borrows from the style and technology of 1980s tennis and has become the brand's tennis-inspired lifestyle offering.

Griffin says the influence of tennis, like running, extends beyond the court. That’s why we create products that transcend performance and lifestyle, he says. We’ve done that with a range of lifestyle products within The Roger, which now includes nine different lifestyle and performance models.

We recently teamed up with Japanese label Beams for a lifestyle version of the Roger Pro and Japanese streetwear specialists Atmos for The Roger Clubhouse Pro, two performance models designed to have a streetwear look.

This year, Wilson has updated its Pro Staff 87 shoe, both in materials and colorways, to play on the power of the tennis lifestyle. You can expect Wilson to explore and launch a variety of exciting color and material options in the future, keeping the Pro Staff 87 fresh and relevant to both longtime fans and new enthusiasts, Shivam Bhan, Wilson’s senior director of product and merchandising, tells me.

Brands around the world, and not just traditional tennis players, are developing tennis-inspired models. Reebok reissued the Court Victory Pump in March, ensuring the shoe made famous by Michael Chang has a place in lifestyle culture more than 30 years later. New colorways have been released throughout the year.

Puma has recently embraced tennis in a more robust way. The release of the Puma Star is the first reissue of the 1970 Wimbledon shoe, a classic ’70s take with a clean, traditional design. The GV Special has been refreshed this year with new colorways and a new construction. Reissued from the archives and the feet of Guillermo Vilas, the updated version features new colorways and a new construction with distressed leather, toe perforations and gold lettering.

Italian brand Lotto has drawn on history to keep its Leggenda Autograph silhouette alive, a design that draws inspiration from models from the 1970s and 1980s.

At Nike, one of the key players in tennis in the 1980s and 1990s, the brand has reinvigorated its Killshot 2 silhouette, bringing more colorways to the market as well as a new Court Legacy model.

Featuring a raised upper with traditional stitching common to tennis. Last year, Nike brought back the Attack, a one-to-one recreation of John McEnroe’s iconic 1980s look, which has seen a variety of color treatments since its launch and Carlos Alcaraz sporting them in abundance at the 2023 US Open. The lineup gives the Swoosh a mix of tennis-inspired lifestyle looks spanning multiple decades.

For brands with a rich history in tennis and an innovative approach to the game, there is a current commitment to a trusted trend. Poerner says Diadora considers itself fortunate to be able to draw on such a wealth of incredible stories, while Lacoste Spindler knows the French brand will continue to lean on its archives. It’s a commitment, she says, that we continue to nurture and support.