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Fashion Focus

Apparel makers are hoping performance features, details and color will grab players’ attention.

By Cynthia Sherman

Apparel makers are hoping performance features, details and color will grab players’ attention.

Apparel manufacturers, like the rest of us, certainly are concerned about what the challenging economy will mean for their sales. But that hasn’t stopped them from continuing to ratchet up the performance features, detailing, and eye-catching colors of their tennis clothes.

Players always want to feel comfortable on the court, says Fila’s Lauren Mallon. They want moisture wicking, a good fit, and color, an important trend in itself because “people want to stand apart and be unique.”

Here are some of the ways apparel makers are helping players feel unique.

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LBH

LBH Group graces the court with easy-wear clothing in summery soft greens and yellows. The Wimbledon Covent Garden collection features a variety of tanks and mix-and-match solid and print skirts in pretty florals. Outfits are a poly/spandex performance fabric with a 50+ UV protection.

lbhgroup.com

310-768-0300

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Bolle

Watery blues, bright limes, vibrant yellows are standout colors for Bolle. For the Blue Lagoon group, dresses make a debut featuring flirty layered hems with built-in bra, and tops and skirts in confetti prints paired with solids. The Lime Light group also has mix-and-match athletic-fit pieces from a mod paisley print strappy tank to a color-blocked dress in white offset by bold flashes of lime and black. Bolle’s Lemoncello high-performance pieces in bright yellow, complemented by graphite, sport a wide selection of tops, pleated skirts, shorts and capris for on the court as well as sporty casual wear around town.

bolletenniswear.com

301-362-0360

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Fila

Design and technology come together in Fila’s latest fashions, with details like mesh and fabric overlays and body-mapping technology, which aids in comfort by using seamless panels that helps breathability. Fila captures the trendy/preppy look with a variety of blues, reds and limes. For women, dresses continue to be popular, with details like ruffles and drawstring hems and waists to customize fit. Micro-poly blends and poly-spandex contribute to comfort and performance. Fila say men’s tennis clothing is becoming more popular, and the company offers shorts in a variety of lengths, T’s, polos, and go-with sweater vests. Red, white and blue and striping and piping details are focal points for the new Heritage line. Fila tour pros include James Blake, Dimitry Tursunov, Janko Tipsarevic, Agnes Szavay, and Anna Chakvetadze.

fila.com

410-773-3000

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Diadora

Diadora’s fashion-oriented pieces offer a more basic, yet colorful look that works especially well for teams. The Passione Skirt in 100 percent DiaDry comes in a variety of bold colors; the Isabella tank for Spring is a poly/spandex blend combined with DiaDry mesh and comes in red/navy, white/navy and black/white. A Caprise zip jacket/pant set is a great cover-up between sets or around town and is offered in navy or black in 100 percent DiaDry polyester with mesh inserts in the pants for breathability.

diadoraamerica.com

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Eliza Audley

An avid tennis player herself, Eliza Audley designed clothing for upscale St. John Knit before branching out with her own line of tenniswear. “I make my clothing dimensional, so it’s not cookie-cutter,” she says. Her “couture” approach includes appliqué signature pieces using black and white as a base. A poly/spandex tank dress in black and white with white rose circle appliqué detail gives the illusion of being form-fitting, but is quite figure-friendly (it also comes in white with black appliqué). Another poly/lycra dress is a sheer rose overlay: a printed base fabric and printed mesh with a contrasting band at the bottom and featuring a cupped support bra. A triangle tank camisole and sheer overlay circle skirt is figure-flattering. Details including making the back of the skirts slightly longer, so as it’s worn in play, it will appear even all around.

elizaaudley.com

262-691-4770

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Tail

Standout colors for Tail are icy pinks, moving into citrusy tones. With a variety of skirts, tops, warm-ups and dresses in pink/black/white and foil prints, the Frosted Rose collection typifies cool and sleek and speaks to both performance and fashion. The Meryl/Lycra jersey fabrication keeps things fluid and comfortable. An athletic-fit color-block tank and accompanying skirt with shorties means business. The Citrus Infusion collection refreshes and dominates with apple greens, midnight blues with splashes of yellow. Color-blocking, strapping and mesh add detail and variety to a game-print flouncy skirt and top. The collection also features an athletic-fit color-block dress with comfort bra.

tailinc.com

305-638-2650

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Lejay

Emphasizing fashion detail, Lejay’s graphic designs are sharply presented in their high-tech Vertex collection. A black and white geometric tank pairs with a V-yoke skort in white. Going forward into summer, the Santorini collection features an ocean blue/white color-blocked dress with a built-in bra for added support.

lejay.com

800-932-7535

See all articles by Cynthia Sherman

About the Author

Cynthia Sherman is a contributing editor for Tennis Industry magazine.

From the March 2009 issue
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