THE ULTIMATE TENNIS SNEAKER
Set aside the Stan Smiths, sneaker afficionado Kish Kash offers up some alternative tennis trainer icons.
Back in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, before the advent of pay per view and the almost total takeover of football on the TV, athletics, Formula 1, boxing, horse racing, golf and cricket were the sports playing out on our screens. Wimbledon was the most watched televised sporting event of the all, broadcast around the world, creating the biggest sporting superstars of that era: Björn Borg, John McEnroe, Billie Jean-King, Chris Evert and more. And it wasn’t just their play that was gaining global fame: their shoes were too.
Unlike the studs and spikes of other sports, tennis players’ footwear could be worn off the court too, leading to its adoption as a major style signifier. For sure basketball was beginning to influence the streets, but the sport wasn’t nearly as big as today and its teams and fans were largely confined to the USA. Worldwide, tennis trainers became the first sports shoes to be worn for fashion’s sake. We all know the iconic adidas Stan Smith, but the game has gifted us many more legendary models that have looked as good worn casually as they have on the courts. Here’s our run-down [notably, brands’ signature shoes were mostly the preserve of the male stars of the day – Ed].
Diadora Borg Elite
Björn Borg transcended his sport in the same way as Pele and Muhammed Ali. The Swede was the finest player from the wooden racket era of tennis and his footwear matched up to his on-court elegance. This shoe, released in 1981, was crafted in Italy and fashioned from supple yet strong white Kangaroo leather. There was a speed lacing system, plus a carbon-injected sole (all revolutionary at the time), with the Diadora fregio emblem exquisitely emblazoned in gold leather, along with Borg’s signature on the exterior side panels in celebration of his five previous Wimbledon victories. This was a shoe you could wear on the deck of your yacht, the terraces of a football stadium or breakdancing in the streets. It was only ever outshone by the majestic player himself, whose achievements weren’t bettered until Pete Sampras entered the game decades later. But Sampras — despite Nike’s best efforts — never had a shoe to match this peerless piece of design. Luxury sports-inspired footwear owes its beginnings to the Elite. It was exclusive back then (because of the expensive materials used) and still sells out immediately upon every subsequent release. This remains Diadora’s most popular model.
£200 Diadora.com
Puma G. Vilas
This one is a personal one, because also it was my first ever Puma. My love for this shoe has never diminished — it’s unquestionably a classic. Back in 1983, Puma celebrated the Argentinian four-time Grand Slam winner Guillermo Vilas with his own signature shoe developed out of California. If it wasn’t adidas, hip hop heads, dressers and casuals were rocking Puma Dallas or Suedes during that era, since Nike were only just hitting the shelves outside of the US and Reebok were only starting on the path to 80s dominance. Puma was highly regarded by the style cognoscenti; sneakerheads wanted to associate themselves with champions like Vilas. The Puma G. Vilas had white and grey tones with a gold pop of the label on the tongue. It was a clean look and the sculpted PU midsole offered superb cushioning for that period. It’s yet another example of an exquisite silhouette which has crossed over from the courts to the pavements and terraces and continues to receive deserved adulation.
£42 AllSole.co.uk
adidas I.L. Comp
The number one sports brand from the 1960s to the mid 80s was unquestionably adidas who delivered hit after hit, regardless of the sporting discipline. The sight of the three stripes was commonplace. It was a challenge for adidas to counter the other pretenders to their throne during the early 80s but when the great Ivan Lendl signed on the dotted line, they maintained the strength of their stride. The I.L. Comp was the most advanced tennis shoe of its time when it debuted in 1984 with the D-Ring speed lacing system combined with a heel counter that was also seen on the adidas Forum basketball model. This shoe set a new level for sports footwear advances and aesthetics. Despite his dominance on the court, Lendl was unfairly an unpopular player. Ironically this shoe was more popular than the man who inspired it. They were seen immediately on the feet of not just tennis players but the style-conscious hip hop fraternity and football casuals. They crossed boundaries and followed on from the legacy of the Stan Smith. Footwear connoisseurs still eagerly anticipate every rerelease of this design classic.
£!30 SoleSupplier.co.uk
Nike Air Trainer 1
This ground-breaking silhouette is an anomaly on this list because it was originally designed by Tinker Hatfield in 1986 to solve the issue of people playing multiple sports but having to switch footwear. Hatfield wanted to develop a shoe that would work across various sporting disciplines. He devised a solution that worked across court sports, running, weightlifting and more. This was the first cross trainer for cross training. Legendary multiple Grand Slam winner John McEnroe was the first person to test them out in 1986, a year before their actual release in 1987. Despite Hatfield asking him to stop wearing them (pretty futile considering McEnroe's steadfast and volatile temperament back in those days), he won the tournament wearing them, as well as the subsequent two, so he carried on sporting them. Swedish player Mats Wilander followed suit, and they became Andre Agassi’s first Nike shoe before the development of his signature line. If that wasn’t enough, they were revered by Flavor Flav of Public Enemy and film director Spike Lee, lending to their adoption by stylish hip hop aficionados. Their influence still reverberates today, with Hiroshi Fujiwara choosing the Air Trainer 1 as the base model for some of his highly desired Nike collaborations. Still setting style levels to the maximum.
£120 Nike.com
Nike Air Tech Challenge II
It’s widely accepted that Michael Jordan has the greatest signature shoe series in history, but there have been other contenders, such as the efforts that adorned the feet of Bo Jackson, Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley, Ken Griffey and Penny Hardaway. But it’s the tennis trainers from Nike and Andre Agassi that really run the GOAT close. Agassi wowed and shocked the world with the audacious way he played tennis. He came into his own with the way he provoked the status quo, as his outlandish fashion sense transformed the game and helped usher in a new wave of stylistic expression on and off court. He has so many great models to his name, but the neck snapping lava print on the Air Tech Challenge II, which was applied to this stunningly beautiful silhouette, drew awe and wonder when Agassi revealed them to the world at Indian Wells in 1990. Rendered from the pen of the aforementioned Tinker Hatfield (he also created the highlights for Michael Jordan, Nike Air Max 1 and many more), this legendary shoe has been worshipped across cultures for decades and, as a result, ranks arguably as the dopest tennis shoe of all time.
£110 Nike.com
Reebok Court Victory
The Reebok Court Victory Pump became synonymous with a key moment of tennis history in 1989, when against all the odds, Michael Chang fought off severe cramp and beat Ivan Lendl to the French Open title at just 17 years 110 days old. He remains the youngest male player ever to win a Grand Slam title. In the lead up to the tournament Chang had featured in TV ads for the where he threw away a competing Nike shoe whilst stating, “If you want to beat those Rock’n'Roll tennis guys [a Nike ad slogan at the time]...Pump up and air out!" The bold neon pops against the predominantly white leather upper, the bright yellow tennis ball Pump on the tongue and Hexalite cushioning on the sole had hip hop and fashion heads marvelling at the combination of style and tech. All this combined with the story of Chang’s heroics cemented the status of this shoe and gave Reebok over-arching dominance in the athletics industry of the day.
£130 Reebok.eu
Words: KISH KASH