Frederick J Perry was born May 18, 1909 in Stockport. As a boy a Ealing County School, he discovered his gift for table tennis – practicing every night and eventually winning the world championship at age 18. He gave up the table, but stuck with the tennis and worked to become an English icon – winning Wimbledon three times and at age 26 became the youngest player to achieve a career Grand Slam. Fred Perry went on to commentate at Wimbledon for the BBC and Evening Standard. In the late 1940s, Perry was approached by an Austrian footballer with a strange idea – Tibby Wegner asked Perry to endorse his new invention – the sweatband. After a bit of revision, that simple invention led to the founding of Fred Perry Sportswear.
Wegner and Perry went on to manufacture an innovative sports shirt, which they distributed to players at Wimbledon that year. Following the free publicity that generated, the duo took their shirts to Lillywhite’s, who began selling the knitted cotton piqué Fred Perry shirts straight away. The tennis shirts were an instant hit, and from that point forward, Fred Perry Sportswear enjoyed repeated success with shirts that have been worn and admired by celebrities, politicians and jet setters the world over. Today’s Fred Perry shirts are still made in England, to the same pattern, with the same fabric. Fred Perry’s style has struck a chord with a number of youth movements in the UK, and today’s Limited Edition Classics collection pays homage to this by echoing the classic styles that were synonymous with subculture over the last forty years.
Today’s Fred Perry Sportswear collection is much broader than the tennis wear range popularised in the 50s and 60s. The iconic Fred Perry laurel appears on shirts, knitwear, t-shirts, jackets, tennis whites and even limited quantities of seasonal, tailored sportswear for men and women. There are also specially-packaged gift shirts for babies, as well as ladies bags and a good range of Fred Perry footwear available.
Fred Perry offer a popular range of track jackets for men in a variety of colours and fabrics to suit most tastes. All of these include the famous embroidered laurel badge and have ribbed cuffs, hem and neck areas. There is also a selection of microfibre tennis warm up jackets, available in a variety of colours, featuring the laurel badge and contrast piping.
For ladies, Fred Perry sell a Check Biker jacket, lightweight with a single button collar and signature embroidered laurel as well as the zip-through Tricot jacket, a tracky top with chevron panels available in two colours.
In addition to jackets for men and women, Fred Perry sell a Microfibre tennis tracksuit in youth sizes – the tracky top is available in white and navy, with contrasting embroidered laurel and accent piping.
Fred Perry Sportswear is available in sizes to suit men, women and youths from a wide selection of high street shops and online retailers, as well as from the Fred Perry Sportswear website and Fred Perry’s own shops in London, Manchester, Nottingham and at Bluewater.
© Jackets.org.uk 2008
