You Don’t Need a Backhand to Rock Gucci’s New Tennis Look

A game paused in time

In the lull between a backhand and a breath, Gucci finds its rhythm. The Italian house, long attuned to the aesthetic cadence of sport, unveils its latest Gucci Tennis collection. Shot in the chiaroscuro of late afternoon light, the campaign unfolds not with the bombast of a grand slam but in the whispered language of glances, shadows, and a game paused mid-motion.

This is not tennis for the sake of sport, but for the story it tells; one of elegance suspended in time.

Gucci’s connection with tennis, archival and instinctive, stretches back to the 1970s, when the brand first flirted with athletic codes. Here, the tradition is cinematically reimagined. The collection channels the leisurewear of the court with confidence, offering pleated skirts and crisp whites for women, and assertively collared polo shirts for men that feel lifted from an old Kodachrome reel.

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Nostalgia in motion

But this is not an exercise in costume. Rather, it is an invitation into a world where athleticism and affluence intertwine, where the line between sport and spectacle blurs under the glare of an afternoon sun.

The accessories function as both punctuation and provocation: metallic aviators with a hint of mischief, leather-trimmed duffles in GG monogram recalling an era when weekend escapes were packed with intent, and headbands that suggest sweat only in theory. Everything glows with a curated spontaneity, as though style were a reflex, not a decision.

At the heart of the campaign lies an object of particular desire: a limited-edition tennis racket made in collaboration with HEAD. Functional, yes. But also a thing of graphic beauty. The Speed MP frame is adorned with Gucci’s Web stripe; its strings form the Interlocking G like a secret handshake. Designed with both power and control in mind, it is a proposition: that performance and design need not be mutually exclusive.

Encased in a blue carrier complete with zip pocket and adjustable strap, the racket becomes an emblem of Gucci’s ongoing dialogue with sport. The collection follows on the heels of previous collaborations with HEAD, most notably the monogrammed duffles debuted by brand ambassador Jannik Sinner at Roland Garros. If that campaign hinted at tennis as theatre, this one doubles down on the sentiment, presenting a game not of points but of posture.

Cinematic leisurewear

The campaign imagery captures a mood. Players, mid-thought and mid-stride, linger in amber-toned stillness. There’s an almost cinematic pacing to the scenes, like frames from a European film where nothing much happens and yet everything does. One could imagine the silence between rallies echoing longer than the match itself.

In a time where performance wear often leans toward the utilitarian, Gucci’s Tennis collection dares to be emotive. It asks what happens when sport becomes symbol, when function is styled to the point of poetry. The result is a worldview. Sun-drenched, slow-paced, and impossibly elegant.

Here, tennis is not just a game. It is a gesture. And Gucci, once again, has served first.

Courtesy Gucci

Special thanks Andee Que