British tennis institution Wimbledon serves up new fashion range

British tennis institution Wimbledon is poised to relaunch its clothing and sports ranges after drafting in a former Bond Street fashion guru to spearhead the plan. 

The All England Club, which will host this year’s Wimbledon Championships from tomorrow, will sell the range at the ground’s shop and online from this week. 

But David Hewitt, who formerly ran luxury brand Daks and opened its store at number 10 Bond Street, said Wimbledon is also considering opening a store – ‘most likely in London’ – to showcase the range. 

Ace outfits: The new range will be sold from this week at Wimbledon and online

He said the overhaul has taken three years to shift away from third party suppliers and to review the entire range from design to liaising with factories. Hewitt said the whole operation was now controlled by the club. 

About 40 per cent of the 120-product range is performance clothing and ‘athleisure’ with the rest lifestyle products that can be worn any time. 

Hewitt said the potential for selling the range around the world – with similar prices to brands such as Barbour – was ‘huge’ with long-term plans to supply wholesale to other retailers. 

‘Wimbledon had already started doing more with its food and drink and the way guests are treated,’ he said. ‘With the clothing, we said, ‘Let’s not just do more – let’s do it all’, which is what we’ve done. 

‘The club has a strapline – In The Pursuit of Greatness. Which means you are never going to get there. But we’re promoting the entire ethos of Wimbledon in what we’ve done here – the same ethos that means there is a guy here whose job is to cut the grass to 8mm.