Uomo Sport Embracing Italian Fashion As Tennis Presence Grows
Steven Siebert embraced a like of tennis trend in the 1970s. Italian tennis vogue, to be distinct. A long time later, he felt the activity had lost its model, so he launched a manufacturer committed to Italian fabrics, tailored fits and the elevation of the on-court and off-courtroom magnificence of tennis design and style.
Based mostly in Southern California, Uomo Sport has a powerful tie to Italy. Uomo (pronounced Woe-moe) is Italian for male. The brand’s Donna Activity line, which fittingly signed tennis player Donna Vekic as its guide ambassador, gives the Italian term for woman, Donna.
“The nucleus is usually heading to be tennis,” Siebert suggests. “In my humble impression, if you get tennis garments ideal, you will wear it all around for every thing, your pieces will just take you throughout your day. I am making quite superior level, extremely specialized parts. Every piece is designed for expert tennis and the intention is this is staple clothing.”
About five many years into the endeavor, Uomo Sport continues to embrace the sport that motivated its commence. With Vekic signing in January 2023 and Jenson Brooksby foremost the men’s aspect for the past 3 years—during the 2021 U.S. Open up, the manufacturer took in 162 online orders through one hour of his match versus Novak Djokovic—the embracing of the game has only grown, now such as outfitting the Pepperdine men’s tennis workforce, sponsoring tournaments across the world, signing gamers and coaches and getting a presence in significant-conclude resorts and significant-degree tournaments.
Siebert calls his clothing complex and young—”it is not an more mature man’s brand”—and he credits that to the target of making really tailor-made fits, staying away from what he phone calls the boxy design and style of other makes. Uomo imports all its products from Italy, from collars to buttons to fabrics, crafting parts in both Italy and the United States. “We are likely the length with the information, the materials,” he claims. “It is tremendous highly-priced, but you can buy much less if you buy improved. These are staple items you just enjoy.”
The brand’s initial breakthrough came when it bought out of merchandise at the BNP Paribas Open up at Indian Wells. From there, sponsorships of tournaments grew, agreements with resorts and clubs expanded and the strains of garments blossomed.
“We want people to experience our entire line of every little thing you want for tennis,” Siebert says, “the polos, the Henleys, the techno crews, the Ts, the pullovers, tracksuits, socks, hats, wristbands, every single one detail. Then we want to have other items you can use out and about. We assume about the comprehensive lifestyle of a tennis participant, where you travel, the time zones and climates. We want to make it proper, so you have staple pieces.”
As professional sponsorships improve, Siebert claims he’s not concentrated on escalating a substantial crew as he thinks in specific type. “We like to just take each individual player or coach or crew and match their temperament and what we consider they will search most effective in and include them as considerably as they want to be included,” he states. The new relationship with Vekic has fed her vogue-ahead curiosity, with Siebert calling her a perfect in good shape for the model.
Together with Vekic and Brooksby, UomoSport has signed Danish participant August Holmgren, alongside with outfitting coaches and other performs, and Siebert wishes to have about 3 males and three women leading the brand name, hoping to incorporate a younger American female player and perhaps an Italian player to the combine.
Uomo Activity is not going to get rid of sight of the importance of tournaments, such as having area in the Wimbledon Village this summer season. The brand has developed into an formal sponsor at ATP and WTA tournaments and desires to make an on-line existence for the model as a mini luxury residence for tennis sportswear and way of living. “We want to just take people within the sport,” Siebert suggests. “I want folks to genuinely comprehend the gamers and the activity.”
Given that his time donning typical Italian brands—Siebert wishes he even now experienced his Sergio Tacchini tracksuit—he believes the outfits has not advanced. “The outfits has been dismal for decades now,” he suggests. “I observed a remarkable hole in the market, why are they not carrying out it much better? If we can get the items ideal, which is hard, if we can get them correct it speaks volumes to the sport. We have received to make these guys as cool as doable.”
Siebert says his team pours in excess of the information. The brand’s shorts contain a microfiber in the pocket, for illustration, that assists wipe sweat from the hand and fingers, and they have extra in a mesh on the internal thigh to support the pores and skin not get irritated.
Uomo Activity remains occupied in early 2023, planning and generating all the parts it plans to introduce during the year. Presently we are viewing a lotus blue and pink for Australia and then we are going to get a monochromatic desert sand design for Indian Wells in March. Expect something unique for Miami with a tropical blue Henley and then loads of navy and clay for Roland Garros. Come Wimbledon, count on to discover pullovers with white and in Wimbledon hues. The freshly introduced women’s line will also carry on to mature, explained by Siebert as a “contemporary update with effectiveness and in good shape, with a superior combine of technical performance without the need of sacrificing model.”
All through it all, Siebert is hectic doting about the details—he has just one polo ready to manufacture with his Italian collars on hand whilst he waits for one more Italian cloth to arrive—excited about a trend-targeted in good shape for tennis. “There has to be a particular weight of the material, the way the ball goes in the pocket,” he says. “We see ourselves as really much tailor-made outfits, not ill-fitting. We get the job done like Hell to make those parts ideal.”