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Elegant and sophisticated, the tennis skirt is a statement of style. From sporty to chic, it’s the season’s must-have.
How to wear a tennis skirt with style, the new mini trend for summer 2026.
The tennis skirt hasn’t waited for the latest editions of major sporting tournaments, from the French Open currently underway to the upcoming Wimbledon, to gain traction and showcase its style credentials. The rise of tenniscore —an elitist, sophisticated, chic style featuring pleated skirts, knitted vests, and strictly white polo shirts—has been contributed to by athletes like Althea Gibson and Billie Jean King, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams, but also by the success of films like Match Point , or Luca Guadagnino’s more recent Challengers, with Zendaya’s outfits curated by Jonathan Anderson, and by creative partnerships like the latest collaboration between Miu Miu, New Balance, and tennis player Coco Gauff.
How to wear a tennis skirt? A style lesson from the runways
The trend has its roots in 1920, when, during the Wimbledon tournament, French tennis player Suzanne Lenglen showed off for the first time on court an above-the-knee skirt designed by Jean Patou, thus establishing a bond that would become fruitful and indissoluble between sport and fashion houses.
Ubiquitous on TikTok and a favorite among fashionistas of the 2000s, the tennis skirt has thus left the perimeter of the red court behind to be worn in the city, part of the athleisure aesthetic that has pervaded fashion in recent months.
Spotted in the collections of Miu Miu – the maison set a precedent in the autumn winter 2022 2023 with its “Miu Miu Tennis Club”, which introduced the idea of a tennis look to be worn even off the court – and of Ralph Lauren – who pairs it with oversized marinière sweaters and leather falt sandals, celebrated in ultra-fashionable collaborations, such as the one between Sporty & Rich and Lacoste, the short flat-pleated tennis skirt has become the trendy mini of summer 2026.
The tennis skirt in street style
#1 With normcore sneakers and a sporty sweater
Sophie Roe wears the white pleated miniskirt with a sporty melange sweater, a white polo shirt and normcore sneakers, a classic sporty chic outfit perfect for leisure time