On Monday, July 3, the opening day of Wimbledon, Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner strode onto center court carrying a custom-made Gucci duffel bag.
More than a week later, the move is still causing a racket.
The 21-year-old Sinner became an ambassador for the Florence-born Italian megabrand last year. He’s known for his polite and calm demeanor — on and off the court — and respectfully adhered to the All-England Club’s strict dress code, which requires that players wear all white. But Sinner’s high-end choice of carry-on marked the first time in the centuries-old, carefully-regulated tournament that a luxury logo-bearing bag had been brought on court — hence the media storm that followed.
The bag features the label’s iconic brown-on-tan GG motif, and the customary red and green striped straps. Personalized with the initials “JS” to signify the collaboration between the athlete and Gucci, the “darling of duffels” is likely to make many more appearances on the court throughout the rest of the 2023-24 season — as it should, given how protracted the approval process was. As reported by The New York Times, Gucci and Sinner’s management jointly worked to get the bag green-lighted by the International Tennis Federation, the Association of Tennis Professionals and the Grand Slams, including Wimbledon, to ensure that it met standards.
Sinner the sellout?
Since Sinner’s court-as-catwalk moment, the fashion press has had a field day. Vogue Business positioned Sinner as the ringleader of “a new cohort of young tennis players express[ing] a growing interest in fashion,” to the delight of luxury brands ready to “harness the sport’s growing appeal.” The Guardian’s fashion editor Morwenna Ferrier wrote that the deal between Sinner and Gucci was “leading a fashion revolution.”
But some ordinary fans and comment-section critics have been a little less gushy about the Gucci-Sinner arrangement.
Sinner’s most-liked recent Instagram post, from July 4, features the now-famous photo of him entering the court with the bag slung over his shoulder, followed by a series of GQ shoot-ready close-ups of the bag’s details. Some commenters didn’t hesitate to share their skepticism, suggesting Sinner focus “more on tennis and less on brands” (@eribrenna), or that he’s “another [athlete] who by now is thinking about nothing more than money and will never win a thing” (@nypaolo). @berk_tuzuner lamented, “What’s next? Prada shoes on clay? Rackets by Audemars Piget?” and @aa21pirlo chided him, “We want the Wimbledon Cup, not bags.”
And the cup isn’t yet in the bag — so to speak. So far in the tournament, the No. 8 seed Sinner has defeated Juan Manuel Cerundolo from Argentina in the first round and Cerundolo’s fellow Argentine, Diego Schwartzman, in the second. In the third, Sinner beat Quentin Halys from France, then bested Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals with Russian Roman Safiullin, Sinner’s eventual win made him only the third Italian (and the youngest man) to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon since 2007.
Today, Friday, July 14, Janik faces his biggest challenge in the tournament so far by going up against Novak Djokovic. The match could prove to be a defining moment for the lanky Italian.
Regardless of the outcome on the court, or the skeptics in the comments sections, it’s fair to say that when it comes to la bella figura — cutting a fine figure, dressing well and making a good impression — Italy and Sinner have already won.
