FILA is celebrating a true innovator and the brand’s original creative director, Pierluigi Rolando. To pay homage to his legacy, the brand is bringing Rolando’s sketches to life, with a new collection of tennis apparel to coincide with major tournaments throughout the year, beginning with the FILA-sponsored BNP Paribas Open. This limited edition collection revives the designer’s archival looks yet embodies the spirit of FILA today, a brand started by a visionary and embraced by iconic individual everywhere.
Rolando helped to change the way the world looked at tennis fashion. His use of print, pattern, and fabrication solidified FILA as a boundary-pushing design house. He was the first to bring color to the court in 1973. His work solidified FILA as an innovator in the design space, disrupted expectations of what the modern game should look like, and set a course for FILA to become an iconic sportstyle brand.
Two FILA sponsored tennis players, World No. 9 John Isner and Grand Slam doubles champion Timea Babos, will debut the special-edition P.L. Rolando styles on-court at the BNP Paribas Open. Both athletes will wear modernized versions of the brand’s traditional red, white and navy colorways, featuring geometric panels of contrasting colors over a diagonal colorblocked print. The women’s collection includes a racerback top, navy skort with elastic FILA tape at the waistband and a navy and red dress with criss cross straps. The men’s collection consists of two shirts, including a crewneck and a traditional polo shirt, as well as white shorts. In addition, both the men’s and women’s collections include classic style warm up jackets and pants. Isner and Babos will both wear FILA’s performance footwear, the Axilus 2 Energized, in inline colorways.
Visit www.fila.com/plrolando to view the complete P.L. Rolando collection.
