Wimbledon, like the World Cup, is brilliant. We congregate in parks and pubs, the country erupting in flags and euphoria for a few weeks. Do you need know anything about tennis or football? No. Can you still marinade in pints and Pimms and yell obscenities at the telly? Absolutely.
Another great thing about sport is, of course, the fashion. There’s something uniquely compelling about uniforms, which — coupled with current obsession for all things sportswear — are an aesthetic triumph. Beloved British streetwear brand Palace knows this well, and, following last year’s football collaboration with adidas in advance of the World Cup, have released a tennis collection in time for Wimbledon.
Shot by longtime i-D collaborator Alasdair McLellan, the campaign stars Palace skaters Blondey McCoy and Lucien Clarke (fresh off their runway debut at Louis Vuitton), plus actual adidas-sponsored tennis players Alexander Zverev and Garbiñe Muguruza. They’re shown swatting balls in bucket hats, sweatbands and polo tees, resplendent in fluorescent white with blue and red accents. Everyone looks very fit, in all meanings of the word.
As well as being available for the public to buy from 3 July, the range will also be worn by all the adidas team members on court. Meaning that it doesn’t really matter if they don’t win the tournament, because they’ve already won best dressed. Now if they could just give us some tips on how to keep the whites white, that’d be great, thanks.