Better start practising your serve — summer 2024 looks set to be defined by tennis. The three-month countdown to Wimbledon is on, racket-romp Challengers arrives in cinemas tomorrow, and everyone chic has already begun channelling the Hurlingham mummies nursing their post match glass of AIX rosé (Whispering Angel, totally passé) while wearing white-pleated skirts and a Ralph Lauren cable knit tied expertly around the neck.
The biggest advert for embracing all things preppy has been Zendaya, who stars in Luca Guadagnino’s film as a former tennis prodigy in a coaching love-triangle with two Federer wannabes (Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist). During the press tour, she has committed — with Margot Robbie’s Barbie enthusiasm — to on-court theme outfits. Big hitters have counted a tennis-green ball gown (complete with actual tennis ball) by Celia Kritharioti at the Los Angeles premiere; a chequered, green SS13 Louis Vuitton look designed by Marc Jacobs during the photocall in Paris; and a custom pleated Thom Browne dress, complete with athletic mesh inserts and tennis racket embroidery, for the UK premiere. The actual tennis balls on her Loewe heels for a photocall in Rome were a step far, but it’s all ever so SW19.
