While tennis requires a relatively simple set of equipment—ball, racket, net—fashion brands intrinsically tied to the sport have continued to up the ante when it comes to staging productions to tout their latest tennis star-endorsed gear. To wit, Nike and Tommy Hilfiger hosted back-to-back tennis tournaments in advance of the U.S. Open that presented the public fan base with an all-or-nothing marketing attitude.
On August 24, Nike gathered nearly a dozen of tennis’ biggest starts in the meatpacking district for a two-fold occasion: the launch of its new NikeCourt collection and the celebration of its iconic “NYC Street Tennis” commercial starring Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. The selling point of nostalgia—the clothes were through-and-through modern—came through via the tennis champs, not to mention Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, all of whom recreated the original commercial.
The next afternoon, in sweltering heat, Nadal made a second cameo in Manhattan, this time at the behest of Tommy Hilfiger, whose underwear, tailored suiting, and TH Bold fragrance campaigns he stars in. The pop-up tennis court in Bryant Park, which was also open to the public, pitted the 14-time Grand Slam winner against some of New York’s best-dressed model in a one-of-a-kind rapid-fire tennis competition. Mother New York consulted on the project, and NA Collective handled production.
Nadal faced off in several rounds of tennis with top models including Chanel Iman, Constance Jablonski, Hannah Davis, Noah Mills, Arthur Kulkov, and Akin Akman, all dressed in custom Hilfiger looks. Each time a team scored a point their opponents removed a piece of clothing, eventually unveiling the new men’s and women’s underwear designs.