Wednesday, October 28, 2015

While Tennis Apparel Choices Sizzle, Eyes are still on the Game (part 1 of 2)


Clean-cut garments continue to be popular in the court. Well known players in the sports garment industry like Nike and Adidas agree. Items like Nike’s Serena Day Dress—with its bold color, lean waistline, and pleated bubble skirt—are a perfect example, showing polished elegance with clean lines.

Other great choices for tennis apparel this summer is the Neon Yellow shirt in the Adidas Competition Line, with its ClimaCool technology that’s set to wow more than a few fashion conscious tennis fans and players alike. Both clothes though, aside from setting function over fashion, also point to essentially the same thing: it’s not the clothes, it’s the player.

However, since the news announcing plans of Ralph Lauren putting up a retail store underneath the Louis Armstrong Stadium circulated, some say change might just be in the air. The talks and rumors have already started. And it doesn’t seem all that likely they’ll end any time soon. The move, after all, is not only guaranteed to raise eyebrows but also to put small vendors on the alert.

The contract, a four year arrangement, is part of a new sponsorship deal that makes Polo Ralph Lauren the official apparel sponsor, replacing Fila. Widespread on-court branding is expected to be one of the perks in the bag.

The company says it will outfit all court personnel. This means fans can now look forward to seeing umpires, ball people and other staff sporting Polo’s all-too-familiar logo. Line judge stand-in boxes will also be expected to bear the company’s logo. Judging from this, it’s clear that the transition has already started.

Not to say that Scott Oudsema, US Open’s young tennis sensation, is also set to model and promote a number of Ralph Lauren tennis apparel and products. It’s safe to say that the company has its hands full these days.


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