For over a year now, tennis has established itself among the most trending topics in the fashion sports bar.
If enthusiasts, between vintage and revival, are very knowledgeable in terms of design, colors and accessories, for the new generations it is not easy to find their way between the latest model of breathable T-shirt and the perfect sneaker for a walk on the green field of Wimbledon.
Who inspires the sportswear giants?
Which decade was the one that gave the most in terms of innovation?
Which athletes do we need to know the name and palmarès of?
To answer these three fundamental questions, one name is enough: Ellesse.
Yes, charm galore as the old Brescian would say.
The Italian company, founded in Perugia in 1959 by the entrepreneur Leonardo Servadio (the name of the brand are his initials), actually started its production by dedicating itself to the world of skiing for over 10 years.
Here it distinguished itself for the creation and patenting of pioneering garments, such as the first padded jackets (to which the Magic Air model, one of the favorites of skiers, would be added many years later) and the jet pant, in elasticized technical fabric, which due to its practicality and performances quickly become essential in the wardrobe of amateurs and professionals.
Like the colorful tracksuits of the Marquis Emilio Pucci, they deserve a place of honor among the symbolic pieces of the era.
The Center Pompidou in Paris will include them in an exhibition dedicated to the best-of design made in Italy in 1979. Two undisputed champions to wear the Perugian brand on the slopes were the giant of the 1980s Marc Girardelli and the French Olympic gold medalist of Ninety Jean-Luc Crétier, who won the podium in Nagano with an unforgettable red and blue race kit.
In short, the brand is full of history, and even more of stylistic charisma.
And these are things that we at Blog Don't Lie like a lot.
The important encounter with tennis came in 1977 thanks to the intuition of the general manager of the newly formed WITA (Women's International Tennis Association) Dino Papale, who encouraged his friend Servadio to sponsor America's rising star Chris Evert; it will be one of the longest and most successful partnerships for the brand, which, accompanying the champion in the Grand Slam tournaments, will gradually join other number ones such as Guillermo Vilas, Boris Becker, Tommy Haas and Anna Kurnikova.
For this sport he designs models that have gone down in history for their style, always impeccable, colorful and, in the women's field, with a decisive and practical character: the names of the three must-have items, T-shirt, polo shirt and shorts, are dedicated to three geniuses of the Italian Renaissance, Donatello, Leonardo and Raphael.
The entire line, today, is in perfect balance between old school, where the edges and stitching are profiled by contrasting piping and a calibrated use of logomania, and a formal cleanliness that meets innovation in materials.
Since the early 1980s, Ellesse has been linked, together with other sports brands such as Fila, Sergio Tacchini and Lacoste, to the "casual" subculture and the birth of hooligans in the United Kingdom.
The idea was precisely to wear the clothing acquired by the middle class, to go unnoticed in the stands of the stadiums and spark clashes with the police on multiple fronts. But above all in the first away matches of the English clubs in Europe and especially in Italy (see Liverpool) the clothing shops were literally looted and then displayed the loot on the terraces of their own homes.
Nowadays the brand is seen in various lights and forms, in our country more as technical clothing given its glorious past in sport, abroad as casual and street clothing.
In both cases it always remains one of the most appreciated made in Italy garments.
Also in the Eighties, a precursor of a trend that would develop much later, Servadio involved the young designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac in a series of collaborations, confirming both the love for color in his lines and a noteworthy foresight for a company that has always been profitable but has never seen the numbers of its foreign competitors.
The other sports Ellesse dedicated itself to were, for a short period, football, which its founder was never passionate about, Formula 1 and boxing, where he dressed Muhammad "The Greatest" Ali.
Today the brand belongs to the English holding Pentland Group, which has significantly developed the communication part, adding storytelling to online content where the protagonists are the athletes themselves.
We at the Blog managed to bring it to our shop in Pompiano in Brescia thanks to the collaboration with the Daybreak showroom in Monza.
From this summer you will appreciate the colours, fabrics and futuristic vision but with a touch of vintage of the brand.
Shop HERE.