By Inderdeep Bains, Deputy Chief Reporter
23:03 11 Jul 2024, updated 23:26 11 Jul 2024
- Thanks to influencers, Wimbledon has seen retail sales sky rocket this year
- Alongside the classics, the Club is offering more fashionable lifestyle pieces
- ‘Tenniscore’ has been popularised by actress Zendaya in the film Challengers
The players’ strict all-white dress code is a Wimbledon convention which is as compulsively maintained as its pristine grass courts.
But off-court the historic Championships has taken a step away from tradition and is cashing in on ‘tenniscore’ – a new fashion trend based on the sport.
With the help of glamourous influencers promoting the trendy semi-formal new range on social media, Wimbledon has seen retail sales sky rocket this year with a double digit growth.
The club has had 15 per cent growth in sales on site in retail this year compared to last year.
‘The retail is absolutely flying,’ marketing and commercial director at the All England Club, Usama Al-Qassab said yesterday.
‘Part of it (the growth in sale) is down to the range and part of it is actually promoting it and using influencers for example. It’s doing incredibly well.’
‘At Wimbledon we’re fortunate to go beyond tennis and fashion is very important here.
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‘We’re very much a heritage brand but what people wear…they plan their outfits, that’s very important.’
He said that the Club had in recent years started to experiment working with social media influencers and had seen engagement through channels such as Instagram more than double.
‘We make sure that we can cover all bases and fashion is one of those bases and influencers are part and parcel of the fashion world,’ he added.
‘It allows us to be able to engage with people through our own channels, such as through Instagram, and through Facebook, and through Tiktok.
‘It’s been heavily successful so far, and allows us also to promote the Wimbledon range and that of our partner Polo Ralph Lauren. ‘
Alongside the classic tennis kits and knitted Ralph Lauren cardigans, the Club is now offering more fashionable lifestyle pieces.
The new tenniscore inspired capsule features a new strawberry collection – a nod to the SW19 staple – which includes a £95 white sweatshirt embroidered with a giant strawberry.
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The sweatshirt, the Club’s second best seller, has proved so popular that it has already sold out on site as well as online.
The most popular item a white cross rackets sweatshirt is also no longer available.
American influencer Morgan Riddle, who is working with the Club on creating content, has been seen promoting some of the items in her posts including a £10 strawberry keyring.
The new range also includes a retro navy and white bomber jacket as well as an urban-style tracksuit.
Head of retail Daniel Ashmore said the 2024 Wimbledon retail collection, which is designed inhouse, was the Club’s ‘largest and most varied range’ to date.
He said it includes ‘modern athleisurewear, smart-casual garments and accessories; designed and ready to wear both on and off the tennis court’.
Fan have been seen queuing at the newly refurbished Wimbledon Shop while rain blighted much of tournament resulting in almost 200 matches being cancelled.
Mr Al-Qassab said: ‘The weather always helps us. So when it’s chillier people buy sweatshirts, when it’s sunny they buy caps and Panama hats.
‘And when it’s raining, they buy the umbrella that you see around the grounds. So the weather helps us whatever, because people want to take some of the magic of Wimbledon home.’
Tenniscore has also been popularised by actress Zendaya after she appeared in the film Challengers in which she played a star turned coach.