Since 1877, the grass courts and grounds of the All England Club combined with the The Championships strict all-white dress code have consistently created a unique backdrop for the most prestigious Grand Slam. Wimbledon’s Victorian era dress code – in the 1880s sweat stains were considered indecorous and white showed less sweat – challenges players and designers alike. Andre Agassi famously skipped the tournament from 1988-1990 to protest the all-white rule. In 1991 Agassi returned to The Championships in head-to-toe Nike whites. “Wimbledon is the place where I learnt to wear white, where I learnt to bow,” Agassi said in a CNN interview. “It’s a place where I learnt to accept and come to appreciate tradition.”
The NikeCourt London 2019 Collection playfully subverts Wimbledon’s strict dress code by leaning into the tournaments heritage. The collection uses texture to create vintage-inspired looks in black and white. Nike players Denis Shapovalov (below), Nick Kyrgios and Grigor Dimitrov will compete for the championship in the whites with the black version of the apparel offered at retail, allowing buyers to mix-and-match.
“We’re challenged to dimensionalize white here,” says Abby Swancutt, Global Design Director for NikeCourt. “That’s why textures are so important. We start by asking, how does the apparel actually feel to the touch, and is the athlete comfortable? Then we continue asking how that knitted texture is experienced by the eye, both on-court and from a distance.”
The NikeCourt London collection will be available June 26 on nike.com.
