Tennis culture has gone mainstream once again. With that growing popularity translating to increased participation and media mentions, an influx of activewear brands have stepped in to offer an alternative tennis apparel lineup. Vuori, a California-based performance apparel brand, has made its mark in tennis, signing American professional Marcos Giron and continually growing its offerings within tennis-specific apparel.
“With the growing popularity of tennis, our customers were asking for products they could wear on and off the court,” Kelly Loreto, Vuori senior director of brand marketing, tells me. “Expanding our assortment to feature tennis-specific styles felt like a natural extension and evolution of our brand.”
Loreto says that Vuori has a goal to create a new perspective on performance apparel through the integration of fitness, surf, sport and art. With sport a key part of that mantra, tennis plays a defining role. “We’re seeing a rise in tennis as more than a fashion statement, but a cultural movement,” she says. “Customers are becoming more active in their everyday lives and are drawn to tennis because of its community cultivating nature.”
With this growing trend toward tennis, Loreto says consumers were shifting into more versatile sportswear and performance offerings they could wear both on and off the courts. “Brands are eager to not only meet their current consumers where they are, but also capture new audiences who are consumed with the hype of ‘tenniscore,’” she says.
Already we’ve seen the likes of Lululemon signing Leylah Fernandez and Free People adding Sofia Kenin and Sloane Stephens. Vuori signed Marcos Giron to the brand. Doing so allows Vuori another avenue to promote the brand’s “core values” that include inspiring healthy, active lifestyles. “We strive to showcase our products through a variety of sports and athletes to demonstrate how Vuori products can enhance performance on and off the court while being aesthetically pleasing,” Loreto says.
Currently Giron, a 30-year-old from California ranked 64th in the world, is the only pro tennis athlete signed to Vuori, but the brand also works with a variety of “competitive tennis athletes,” both male and female, to test product and provide feedback.
When it comes to creating a catalog of tennis-specific items, Vuori had to set a new direction with its women’s line. Loreto says that the brand has always prioritized designing versatile clothing for movement and many of the original men’s styles translated well to tennis. But that wasn’t necessarily the case for the women’s line. “Knowing that skirts and dresses trend for tennis, we started building out the Court Collection for women,” she says, “launching it in spring of 2022. Now that we offer tennis styles to both men and women, we can support our community and athletes on the ATP and WTA tours.”
In 2023, Vuori introduced a bevy of new tennis-specific styles, such as the Court to Resort collection with the One Shot Tennis Dress, Volley Skirt, TopSpin Dress and men’s Kore Short and Strato Tech Tee. Loreto stresses that while everything in the collection was designed with the court in mind, the brand still values versatility and believes tennis-specific designs translate to a variety of activities.
Loreto says the design team works to develop and perfect fabrics, looking to keep a hold on being known as soft and comfortable. That means the best-selling Breathinterlock and Dreamknit fabrics were redesigned and introduced to tennis collections.
The signature design elements throughout the court offerings include four-way stretch, anti-odor technology, moisture-wicking and quick-drying fabric and recycled materials. “For tennis-specific styles, we make sure our lines are breathable and best-in-class comfort,” Loreto says. “Our tennis items combine a unique blend of performance fabrications to create some of the softest, comfortable and supportive materials in the industry.”
That industry more and more features tennis as a core element. The sport’s cultural moments are getting all dressed up.
