Outfits to love: Exhibit shows off tennis fashions through the ages
— Well before Andre Agassi caused a stir with his stonewashed denim shorts at the French Open, the clay courts at Roland Garros were a catwalk for fashion experimentation.
From the corset-less dress worn by “La Divine” Suzanne Lenglen and designed by French creator Jean Patou to the revealing blackand-red outfit that Venus Williams wore five years ago, the tennis stadium in the chic western district of Paris has always been a fashion hot spot.
“Players want to show their personality through their clothes,” former player Tatiana Golovin said at the launch of an exhibition recounting the links between fashion and tennis at the Roland Garros museum.
The exhibit, called “Game, Set and Fashion,” has more than 60 pieces of women’s and men’s clothing, some that have never been shown before, as well as pictures, posters and a focus on the designers who made tennis fashion.
There are dresses and shorts — some dating back to 1890 — a lavish male tennis coat, autographed outfits by the likes of Steffi Graf and Williams, and a collection of shoes.
Golovin, 27, who ended her career early because of back problems, is the exhibition ambassador.
She says she enjoyed wearing pretty clothes on court, although she never dared sporting Venus’s burlesque see-through black lace skirt and red bustier that got more attention than her play at the 2010 French Open.
“I was a pundit for TV at the time, and I remember the lacy dress well,” Golovin said.
“Her small shorty and that blackand-red dress were a main talking point. It was very provocative, but she was ready to assume it. She designed it herself.”
Golovin is a fan of tennis fashion from the 1960s when British designer Ted Tinling created dresses with innovative shapes, frills and furbelows.
“Tennis fashion in the ’60s was really audacious,” Golovin said. “The dresses were already very short, there were lace shorts. There was elegance, but it was risqué at the same time. Outfits are less feminine today, more sporty.”
The French Open is due to start on Sunday.