Wimbledon is working with influencers to promote its clothing range for the first time in its 146-year history. In a break from tradition, the club has hired style influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers to appeal to a younger audience.
Melissa Holdbrook-Akposoe, better known as Melissa’s Wardrobe, who is the rapper Stormzy’s stylist, normally posts pictures of herself in Prada and Victoria Beckham. This week, the 32-year-old Londoner, who has 314,000 Instagram followers and is one of Britain’s biggest fashion influencers, posted a photo of an £85 Oxford shirt from Wimbledon’s new “semi-formal” collection.
The club is trying to broaden out into a wider, younger audience with the range, which takes advantage of the boom in “tenniscore”, an emerging fashion based on the sport. The capsule collection for men and women, sold exclusively online, features £55 pleated miniskirts, £89 varsity sweatshirts and cotton chino trousers and shorts.
A spokesperson for the All England Club said: “It is the first time that Wimbledon has worked with influencers in this capacity. We’ve opted to work with genuine tastemakers that are known for their preference of high-quality aspirational brands. They have beautifully styled the Collection, to demonstrate its versatility.
“The Collection isn’t just for Wimbledon; it consists of timeless staples that can be worn on and off the court.”
The fashion broadcaster Polly Sayer, who has partnerships with brands such as Next and Reiss, told her 162,000 Instagram followers that she was “buzzing” to be working with the club.
“If you’re loving Wimbledon as much as I am, you might want to check out the Wimbledon Collection. Its own fashion collection designed in house using ethically sourced fabrics and manufacturing methods, the pieces are designed to be worn both on and off the court and they’re very chic,” she added.
David Hewitt, the head of retail and merchandise at Wimbledon, said the club was trying to move beyond sportswear with the release. He added that the club was inviting “guests to wear something from Wimbledon to Wimbledon for the first time”.
It comes after tennis stars such as Emma Raducanu, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, the 21-year-old Italian and men’s world No 8, landed deals with designer fashion brands. The players have become known for their style on and off the court.
The former tennis star Boris Becker has tried to cash in on the trend by launching his own clothing store in Istanbul, Turkey. On Friday, the three-times Wimbledon men’s singles champion, who served eight months of a two-and-a-half-year sentence for hiding £2.5m of assets and loans in a bankruptcy fraud case, posted a tour of the shop, named Boris Becker.
Wearing a top featuring his name and a “BB” logo, Becker, who is banned from entering the UK for 10 years, said: “Today is 7 July, and 38 years ago I won my very first Wimbledon. Unfortunately, I cannot be at Wimbledon, but I’m in Istanbul to visit my new shop.”
The 55-year-old, who was released from prison in December and deported from the UK, added: “Maybe you can’t play tennis like Boris Becker, but now you can dress like Boris Becker.”
The German received many congratulatory messages from his well-wishers, including Serbian great Novak Djokovic’s wife, Jelena. “Congrats!!!#nottoobad,” Jelena commented on Becker’s post.
