We loved contributing to this brilliant feature from The Industry.Fashion and Marcus Jaye on the rise and rise of #TennisCore - Read the full story here

Excerpt below...

'Laura Ward, Creative Director of EXEAT, the world’s leading luxury British tennis apparel brand for women, says, “The concept of ‘Tenniscore’ is great for business as it opens up our styles to a broader audience and positions tennis as a sartorially elevated lifestyle sport, which it absolutely is.”

Ward thinks tennis has an unmatched fashion pedigree, more so than any other sport. She notes that the best sellers in Gabrielle Chanel’s first clothing line were tennis dresses and it was a Chanel tennis dress that scored her very first transatlantic mention in American Vogue. The legendary Parisienne couturier Jean Patou in the 1920’s famously dressed tennis’ first female icon Suzanne Lenglen for court, causing a stir with shorter hems and bare arms, not to mention iconic player slash fashion designer Fred Perry and of course Serena William’s inimitable court style which always hit the global headlines.

“Tennis is the fastest growing sport in the world with the LTA - Lawn Tennis Association - reporting a 372% uptick in tennis participation since the pandemic.” says Ward.  “All of a sudden there is an abundance of players, all shopping for new kit, plus tennis famously has the most affluent demographic in sport, so your customer is likely to have some disposable income. It’s a no brainer for the right brand,” she says.

“The pandemic changed everything ­– tennis was one of the only sports the nation was allowed to play during lock-down meaning people who hadn’t picked up a racquet since school were suddenly flooding on to court for a chance to move their body and socialise,” says Ward.