The top 3 tennis fashion moments of the year and what they signal for 2026

Expect more Miu Miu x New Balance, more player breakups with Nike, and frustratingly distinct approaches to fashion marketing from the ATP and WTA.

Tennis fashion reached an apex this year as more luxury brands got involved and younger activewear brands entered (or increased their investment in) the category. Overall tennis apparel sales were up 15% year-over-year as of June, largely driven by women’s tennis apparel which was up 28% during the same period, according to data from Circana. The retail analysts I know expect that to continue, especially with the return of Venus Williams (whose epic fashion run at the US Open I recapped here) and the potential return of Serena.

Below, I dive into the three most important tennis fashion moments of the year and what they signal for the year ahead, with some new information sprinkled throughout.

How Venus Williams’ stylist choreographed the best tennis fashion moment of the year

The Miu Miu x New Balance collaboration with Coco Gauff

This collaboration created an entirely new template for what kit and luxury brand sponsorships of athletes can look like. Rather than operate as siloed sponsors of Coco Gauff, New Balance and Miu Miu came together to design some of the coolest kits we’ve seen in years, strategically debuting new looks at a series of different tournaments. In the works since 2021, it was a far cry from the dull, afterthought vibes that sponsors like Nike and Louis Vuitton bring to the table with other star players like Carlos Alcaraz. Imagine how much cooler Alcaraz’s kits would be if Pharrell Williams (current creative director of LV) got involved?

My only bone to pick with the Miu Miu x NB rollout was the nonsensical timing of the items going on sale for consumers. They waited until after the US Open, when many of her looks were old news, to make them available. That, paired with some truly absurd pricing ($750 for a baseball cap?), might be why they’ve had trouble moving many of the pieces. The sneakers, on the other hand, sold like hot cakes—not surprising when you consider how popular Miu Miu sneakers already were.

Looking into the future: The brands confirmed to me that this partnership will extend into 2026 although the details about what that will look like are scarce (Gauff, FWIW, was recently anointed a face of Miu Miu’s new perfume, Miutine). Although she’s locked in to this right now, I could also see Gauff using this template to work with other designers in the future—she’s mentioned Telfar Clemens, of the brand Telfar, as a dream collaborator. The question is, will other brands and players take a page out of this playbook, too? I hope so.

Jack Draper leaving Nike for Vuori

I was the first to officially confirm this news over the summer, but it was in many ways the worst-kept secret in tennis at the time. Over the last few years, we’ve seen other top players like Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe leave Nike for newer tennis entrants like BOSS and Lululemon, which they’ve since confirmed in interviews was due in part to wanting to be the big fish in a small pond rather than one of many clones (and yes, more money is part of that). But there was something especially striking about a rising star like Jack Draper—who had only made his ATP Tour main draw debut in 2021—so quickly cutting ties with the once-coveted Swoosh. It acted as a sort of visual confirmation of Nike’s falling tennis stock, one the brand essentially orchestrated itself when it dissolved its tennis-focused design team a few years ago. And it underscored a new era for tennis player fashion, one being led by innovative brands that are new (or newer) to the space than the athletic wear stalwarts of the past. I’ll be chatting with the Vuori team about this and more in the new year—stay tuned.

An open field gives us two first-timers

Looking into the future: Will Nike be able to hang on to its top talent? Aryna Sabalenka has already signaled frustration with the brand’s lack of creativity and inability to create consistent custom kits (apparently those aren’t coming until 2027) and I’ve heard from a few agents who rep Nike players that there’s rampant dissatisfaction. I would not be surprised if we see her or Alcaraz (yes, even with his custom logo supposedly being worked on years too late) jump ship in the next year or so unless Nike really shakes up its strategy. Yeah, the money is good, but image-making is important and I know for a fact there are other brands willing to pony up. (And, to state what feels obvious, a few players lower down the rankings are already looking for exits.)

The ATP gets serious about fashion (while the WTA keeps…vibing)

In true late bloomer style, the ATP Tour is finally following in the footsteps of its sports league brethren and getting serious about fashion as a marketing tool. As I reported for Vogue Business, the men’s tour will quadruple its marketing budget in 2026 to support player styling suites, put its own spin on tunnel walks by filming players as they show up to tournament sites, and engage tour-wide fashion brand partnerships. “There’s a clear intersection in interests between tennis and fashion for our fans, and we see this as an opportunity to bring fans who might be following the sport more casually deeper into the fold,” Andrew Walker, the tour’s SVP of marketing, told me at the time.

Sign up for paid for some insider info on the WTA’s frustrating yet illuminating response to this news (below).