We have a theory: the coolest people this summer all look like they might play tennis. Not because they do, but because they dress as if they could. Somewhere along the way, sport became luxury's favourite aesthetic. Wimbledon, Formula 1, golf, sailing, padel—the actual sport almost doesn't matter anymore. It's the feeling.
📸: Gertrude “Gorgeous Gussie” Moran at the Wimbledon Championships in 1949.
📸: The Athletic; Photos: Ryan Sirus.
If you've spent any time on Pinterest lately, you've probably noticed it too. White dresses. Crisp button-downs. Knit polos. Tailored shorts. Boat shoes. White sneakers. Sweaters casually draped over shoulders despite it being 30 degrees outside. It's clean, classic, and somehow manages to look expensive without looking like it's trying to.
📸: Sporty&Rich.
Wimbledon is probably the best example of why this works. For nearly 150 years, players have been required to wear almost entirely white. It sounds restrictive, but it's actually the opposite. When everyone is wearing the same colour, you stop noticing the colour and start noticing everything else. Great tailoring. Beautiful fabrics. A perfectly cut polo. The details become the statement, which feels surprisingly refreshing after years of trends built around wearing more, louder, and bigger.
📸: Naomi Osaka wearing a white Japanese-style kimono at Wimbledon this season.
The clothes aren't even the whole story anymore. Before a match starts, photographers line up to capture the players arriving. The walk from the locker room to Centre Court has become its own runway, with brands like Miu Miu, Gucci, Boss, Nike, and New Balance treating athletes like fashion's newest front row. This year's Wimbledon was the perfect example. Naomi Osaka arrived in a custom look inspired by traditional Japanese dress before revealing her Nike kit underneath—a reminder that for today's athletes, fashion isn't separate from the sport. It's part of the performance. Athletes have quietly become some of the best-dressed people in the world, and luxury brands know it.
📸: Miu Miu.
Athletes have quietly become some of the best-dressed people in fashion, and they're doing it without looking overstyled.
📸: Miu Miu.
📸: Tuckernuck.
Maybe that's why this aesthetic has caught on. Nobody is actually trying to look like a tennis player. They're trying to capture the lifestyle around it. Long lunches after a morning match. Aperol spritzes on the terrace. Linen that looks better a little wrinkled. A boat somewhere in the background. It feels relaxed, polished, and just a little aspirational without ever feeling unattainable.
Maybe that's why this trend feels different. It isn't really a trend at all. It's a return to timeless pieces that always seem to find their way back every summer. The kind of clothes that look just as good in Muskoka as they do in Nantucket, the South of France, or walking to dinner by the water.
📸: Wiskii
Which, now that we think about it, has always been the Barbet vibe.