How Wilson turned a century old gear company into one of the most popular tennis kit brands
A deep dive into the heritage brand's rapid expansion into tennis apparel that has tennis fans and players buzzing.
You’re reading Kitted Deep Dive — a longer format of my Kitted series in which I go deep on the fashion brands making waves in tennis right now. Come for the business insights, stay for execs keeping it real.
Wilson’s kits have become central to the tennis fashion conversation so quickly that it’s easy to forget they weren’t even in the mix a few short years ago. The richly hued, modern silhouettes that have become synonymous with the brand’s muse, Marta Kostyuk, were just a speck of an idea in 2020 when Gordon Devin, Wilson’s president, recruited a team of people to expand the now 113-year-old sporting goods brand into one with serious apparel chops.
His first hire was Joelle Michaeloff, a designer with decades of activewear experience, including at Lululemon as it was just taking off. Michaeloff, who’s now the VP of design, tells me she knew right away it was an offer she couldn’t pass up. “For such an amazing brand to have never really done what we’ve been doing with sportswear in over a hundred years just blew my mind, and the rich history that came with it was overwhelming because there was so much potential,” she said. “The brand has one of the best legacies in the world in terms of how they’ve changed the world of sport.”
But that by no means made their jobs easy, said Jessica Easter, the brand’s head of global marketing who joined shortly after: “When we started, there was no product, nothing to market—we were literally starting from scratch.”
I spoke to both women about how they turned a heritage brand famous for its sports equipment into a modern sports apparel brand whose kits have swiftly become some of the most popular on the tennis tour.
A heritage brand with a current pulse
When Joelle first started at the company, she wanted to go back to the beginning, diving into Wilson’s vast archives and using old catalogs—which included apparel like football and baseball uniforms—as a jumping off point. “Not many brands that are disrupting the space can actually go back to a vault,” said Easter. “There isn’t a vault that exists because they aren’t that old or they haven’t been making tennis products for 100-plus years.”
But Michaeloff, who originally worked as an engineer, isn’t one to get stuck in the past. “She has a ton of experience in performance apparel, so once she pulled inspiration from the vault, she really started to think about how we could take some of these old, vintage pieces as inspiration but use new, more technical fabrics and fits,” explained Easter.
That led Michaeloff to incorporate what she calls “stealth technology” into all of the garments—a design approach with the goal of blending in, or hiding, the more technical elements and solutions that make the apparel work seamlessly for the top athletes in the world.
“Our mission is to create the best tennis kits that perform in the most rigorous tennis environments but that hide the function,” said Michaeloff. Although most of these techniques are company secrets, they include things like using ultra moisture-wicking materials that can withstand the Australian sun without showing excessive sweat to innovative pocket designs that can hold two balls without the risk of them ever falling out while a player serves.
But looking good is key as well. “If it looks terrible, nobody’s going to want to put it on their body,” said Michaeloff, who takes a lot of inspiration from the design philosophies of luxury brands, incorporating everything from Italian tailoring principles to premium fabrics, like cashmere, that are not normally associated with athletic wear.
One of the most disruptive things Michaeloff has tried to do over the last few years is hide the Wilson logo as much as possible—a move that she jokes is not always popular with her colleagues. “I like it to be discreet, because I like the clothes to stand for themselves,” she explained. Over time they’ve had to become a bit more front and center but, on certain pieces, like the blue ombre Headliner Dress that Marta Kostyuk wore in Montreal, Michaeloff gets her way.
“The most disruptive thing you can do is to challenge the usual playbook, and I think beauty coming first is just a super cool way of challenging the status quo,” she said.
The perfect muse
Many fashion designers have a muse or set of muses that inspire much of their work. But tennis kit designers? Not so much.
Wilson, however, is different.
In 2022, the company’s racket sports business unit, which focuses on scouting tennis talent, came to the team working on apparel about a young Ukrainian woman named Marta Kostyuk. “They really put us on to her and told us they thought she had incredible potential to grow as a player,” said Easter.
Working off that very good hunch, they signed Kostyuk (now ranked No. 26 in the world) as their first Tennis 360 athlete—meaning unlike Wilson athletes of the past who often just use their rackets, she’s decked out in Wilson from head, to hand, to toe.
“The relationship with Marta has been so unique because she has never just been a sponsored athlete for us,” explained Easter. “Joelle has worked so closely with Marta as more of a design muse.”
Kostyuk coming on board was the first test of whether the apparel they had been selling to consumers for a few short years would hold up on the pro tour. “If it was good enough for her, then it’s going to be good enough for me, who’s pretty terrible at tennis but still wants to look really cute,” joked Michaeloff.
The goal from the jump was to collect as much valuable insight as they possibly could from a pro player that they could then apply across the larger business, and they hit the jackpot with Kostyuk, who the team describes as eager to give feedback and work alongside them on creating the best possible tennis wear, regularly sending videos, photos, and texts with notes. “Joelle will go to her to understand, ‘What is it that you wish that you could play in, or what is it that you wish a product would solve for you? What are you distracted by when you’re playing that you just wish you didn’t have to think about?’” said Easter.
The learnings came fast—avoid this color in Australia (it shows sweat too much), change the angle of a pocket here so the ball stays put, add more support there. “If you don’t have an athlete who’s playing at that level, you’re going to miss things,” explained Michaeloff.
The collaboration became so close-knit that Michaeloff ended up designing Kostyuk’s wedding dress, a version of which Kostyuk then wore to Wimbledon in 2024. “That was probably one of the most special things I’ve done in my career,” said Michaeloff. Your wedding is such an intimate part of your life and I think very few sports brands get to be that connected to their players—it was a huge honor.”
A constant feedback loop with athletes
Kostyuk set the foundation for all the Wilson 360 athletes that followed, including Peyton Stearns, Vicky Mboko, and Nicolas Jarry. Unlike many kit sponsors who check in with their players a few times a year, Wilson touches base with their athletes on an almost weekly basis year-round.
During tournaments, they’re in constant communication in case any issues arise or size changes are needed. “Athletes’ bodies are changing throughout the season,” notes Michaeloff. “That’s just the nature of training, right? So checking in regularly allows us to be sure that things are still fitting.”
Oftentimes, Michaeloff—who watches every Wilson 360 athlete match—will pick up on things just from seeing them play. “We work really close to market, so one of our superpowers is really being able to react to the feedback quickly, both from on court play and personal preference, and alter the course for the rest of the year.” (Of note, all of the kits their athletes wear are available for sale when they’re wearing them—which is not as common as you’d hope.)
Although Kostyuk has led the charge as a muse, every athlete they work with has specific likes and dislikes that are used as inspiration for the larger tennis apparel collection. “We almost use our tour players as personas, if you will, because each of them has such a different aesthetic and plays a different role,” said Michaeloff. For example, one woman might light up over a sports bra as the top of the kit while another is more conservative and wants a bit more coverage, whereas the guys often have different feelings about long vs. short shorts. “They all play a role in how we design so that when we’re looking at each collection drop, we make sure we’re covering all of these bases.”
Looking to 2026, Wilson will be doubling down on the design codes that have quickly made them one of the most beloved kit brands on the scene and signing more athletes as part of their Tennis 360 program.
When they bring new athletes into the fold, it’s more than just stellar tennis performance that they’re looking for. “Being on center court is not the only thing that matters,” said Easter. “We’re also looking for athletes who want to partner with us on design, provide incredible insight and feedback—who will help us design the next wedding dress, if you will.”
Accordingly, Devin, Wilson’s president, likes to tell his team to, “Choose your people before you choose your projects.” These are the people they’re going to spend their time with and invest time and money in, says Easter, “so we’re looking for like-minded athletes who share our values and really want to join in on the process of building this brand, and their personal brand, in tandem.”
Thanks for reading! If you have tennis news or tips to share, email jessica@hard-court.com. For regular updates, follow Hard Court on Instagram.
Having come of “tennis age” in the 1970s, I have long missed the era of Fila, Ellesse, and Sergio Tacchini. Although less crazy about Ted Tinling’s creations, at least he tried. Aside from occasional one-offs by Venus or Serena, everything since 1985 has been blah/uninspiring to me, and the shoe companies — Nike, Adidas, Reebok, and Puma — seemed to treat apparel as afterthoughts. Kostyuk’s was the first kit I’ve seen in years that made me think, “now we’re talking!” I hope someone can now do something for the men.