Back in February Fila, the Italian sportswear company, commissioned Wallpaper* to design part of its new Global Limited Edition collection. The brief was to reinterpret the classic ‘Settanta’ polo shirt and jacket – the combination favoured by Björn Borg – in a way that paid tribute to Fila’s sporting past, especially the 1970s, while remaining au courant.
Click here to see more
After discussions with Fila and a thorough trawl through their archives, a Wallpaper* team, headed by Bespoke art director Andrew Wren, came up with more than 20 designs, which were eventually narrowed down to two.
The first, ‘Grandslam’, pays homage to Borg: the front of the ‘Settanta’ polo knit sports gold pinstripes and a solid block of glyphs, which, on closer inspection, reveal themselves to be the scores of each of Borg’s championship matches. On the reverse are his runner-up results. For the jacket, the right sleeve was wrapped with the winning scores in gold, and the left sleeve with the silver runner-up scores.
For the second design, ‘Richie Tenenbaum’ polo shirts, Wallpaper* was inspired by Luke Wilson’s character – a former tennis great in the film The Royal Tenenbaums – to create an understated cut. The blue and white striped design is given a serve of humour with a graphic pair of sunglasses printed on the chest pocket.
Fila launched the full Global Limited Edition (500 mens' and 250 ladies’ pieces) collection in June at selected global outlets. We don’t know if it will improve our serve, but it’s a set to love.
-
Inside Alessandro Michele’s showstopping debut haute couture show for ValentinoThis afternoon in Paris (29 Janaury 2025), the Italian designer hit new heights with an eclectic, era-traversing couture collection for Valentino
-
Inside Bell Labs, the modernist vision behind Severance's minimalist settingWe explore the history of Bell Labs - now known as Bell Works - the modernist Eero Saarinen-designed facility in New Jersey, which inspired the dystopian minimalist setting of 'Severance'
-
Toronto’s DesignTO 2025 highlights – design and art to see across the cityAt DesignTO, the largest festival of its kind in Canada, determined artists and designers gather in Toronto in full embrace of chilly weather. Our on-the-ground correspondent reports on its standout moments
