The history of the brand Sergio Tacchini is closely linked to that tennis, its namesake creator is in fact the five-time Italian champion of doubles. Sergio Tacchini, retired from racing at the age of 28, founded in 1966 in Piedmont, in Bellinzago Novarese, Sandys S.p.A. which will then take the name of Sergio Tacchini S.p.A.
The biggest innovation of the brand was to introduce for the first time the color in the uniforms of tennis, until then in fact had always predominated white. This intuition and his contacts in the sporting environment immediately brought Sergio Tacchini on the crest of the wave.
Sergio Tacchini dresses tennis champions
At the end of the ’60s tennis becomes a very popular sport and the players of the real stars, that Sergio Tacchini dresses during tournaments. Turkeys are some of the most famous names in Turkey suits: Ilie Nastase, whose lively personality fully represented the style of the brand and John McEnroe, one of the legends of tennis.
He has won seven Grand Slam titles, with Sergio Tacchini as sponsor, and has become a public figure known on par with rock stars. This was especially true after the episode at Wimbledon in 1981 in which he challenged an arbitrator’s choice by shouting the phrase “you cannot be serious” and shocking the conservative world of tennis.
For this reason, McEnroe and the Sergio Tacchini suit he wore during the match became popular with tennis fans. The collaboration between the champion and Sergio Tacchini is also the beginning of the sponsorship in high figures in the field of sports. In 1983, McEnroe was paid $400,000 a year and Sergio Tacchini was signed to more than 25 other players worldwide. Do not forget that 1976 Sergio Tacchini had already sponsored the Italian team at the Summer Olympics in Montreal.
Sergio Tacchini and streetwear
The brand and the iconic polo shirts with the logo where the S incorporates the T become a symbol of style at an international level and thus spread even outside the sporting sphere. Sergio Tacchini from the eighties becomes very loved among young who like a casual style but at the same time elegant and quality. As a result, the production expanded, not only to sports garments but also introducing ready-to-wear collections. One of the most desired items is the jacket Dallas Track: born to warm up tennis players, is characterized by horizontal stripes on the chest, the high neck and the front zipper.
Also proposed in a coverall version, it was a great success in what was called “terrace wear”, that is, the way fans dressed on the most fiery stands of English football. Sergio Tacchini thus becomes a great protagonist of what we now call streetwear, especially in the 80s and 90s in the field of hip hop culture, where wearing luxury brands began to become a way to show their status. Among the most famous rappers to wear the brand there were Notorius B.I.G and LL Cool J and Tacchini is also nominated in several songs by Kanye West, Jay Z, Bestie Boys, Wu Tang Clan and many others.
Meanwhile the collaborations at the sporting level are more and more numerous: Ayrton Senna in Formula 1, Dino Meneghin and Olimpia Milano in basketball, Pirmin Zurbriggen and Marc Girardelli in skiing and a long list of champions in tennis including Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras, Gabriela Sabatini, Mats Wilander, Sergi Bruguera, Martina Hingis, Goran Ivanisevic, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Francesca Schiavone and Novak Djokovic.
A new twist
In 2006 Sergio Tacchini undergoes a change of ownership, is bought by the Chinese company Hebly. It was the contract with Djokovic, at the time at the beginning of his amazing career that brought the brand back to the top. In 2016, on the occasion of the company’s 50th anniversary, a limited edition of the Young Line polo shirt worn by John McEnroe was created and the line “Archive” dedicated to the reissues of historical models.
In 2019 a new change of direction takes place and the company is acquired by Stefano Maroni and two private US equities that immediately aim to emphasize the great history and tradition of the brand on the American market. Sergio Tacchini has always been the symbol of Italian creativity and quality in sports fashion and today also in streetwear, in 2021 was launched a collaboration with rapper A$AP Nast that combines the characteristic aesthetic canons of the brand to today’s trends.
Cover Image: Style Corriere