Roger Federer On Diversity In Tennis + The Colour He Won't Wear
Jan 29, 2019
LifeWear
The tennis superstar is forging ahead with UNIQLO.
On what he looks for in his tennis gear:
"There’s certain colours I don’t like to wear. You don’t see me in yellow. There’s certain materials that don’t work well with the sweat, or they stick on your body. When you start thinking about your outfit at all times during a match, because you’re struggling with that stuff, it’s never fun. The good thing is when it flows, especially when you’re playing outdoors. The good thing is when you feel it’s almost drying by itself, or if you’re sweating and there’s a cooling sensation... I like good socks. UNIQLO has great socks, so I think that’s important. You need to have a really good stability in your shoes, and it starts with your socks, and other than that, I like if you look good, you feel good, you play good. I believe in that."
On fan response to his UNIQLO Ambassadorship:
“The fans have been worried about the RF, wondering if the logo was going to come with me eventually, and I understand that.. But I want them to know that from my side, we’re working as hard as possible to make the new clothes as personal as possible. And hopefully the RF will be around the tennis clothes again. I think the fans really care about it a lot, especially the die-hard fans. But the response has been good in general. People who know me trust me to have made the right decision."
On what attracted him to collaborate with UNIQLO:
"I stand for style on the court. I really wanted to make the best apparel, the best-looking apparel for a tennis player in recent years. Obviously, I want to redo that, create the coolest things with UNIQLO... [it's] something I’m very excited [about]. And I’m also going beyond that into LifeWear."
On making what he wants to wear:
“I have so many appearances—just take all my press conferences. There’s no reason that I have to show up in a tennis outfit at a press conference. I could start showing up [in a suit] if I wanted to. People would look at me funny in the locker room, saying, ‘Where are you going?’ And I could tell them, ‘I’m going to a press conference.' There’s ideas on my side, from press conferences to trophy ceremonies to when you’re walking on court. There’s a lot of different pieces that assemble an entire tennis outfit.”
On making professional tennis more diverse:
"The tour doesn’t always go through Asia. I’ve been a big promoter of Shanghai, same as Tokyo, I’ve wanted to go back there many times, and through this deal, I will. I’m very excited to spend more time in China, Japan, and other places, so I think that’s very exciting... Maybe I can also find more tennis superstars of the future, because they just don’t have enough, unfortunately. A lot of them are from Europe, Australia, America, South America."
On LifeWear:
"It’s very easy to wear. It’s simple, yet it feels like there’s been a lot of thought put into it. It’s affordable, as well. Not everybody can afford Tom Ford. That’s what’s so beautiful about UNIQLO — it’s accessible for people. Not everybody can afford Nike, too, or some other brands. It’s expensive. I know UNIQLO doesn’t have a store everywhere, like some other brands, but we’ll get there. We’ll work hard at it.”
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