Fred Perry & Raf Simons Collaboration for Spring

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed)
Jan 21st 2009 at 10:02AM

Fred Perry, the iconic British clothing brand with a laurel leaf symbol named for the dashing tennis champion, has just released its second collaboration with Belgian designer Raf Simons, for Spring / Summer 2009.

Drawing inspiration from both punk rock and West African culture - neither traditionally known for tennis togs - the collection features natural fabrics and a vibrant color palette of copper brown, earth orange, regal blue and honey hues.

Comprised of 25 pieces, key items include a re-working of the classic Fred Perry polo shirt, originally launched at Wimbledon in 1952, in a striped open knit style (right, $397.50), slip-on tassel loafers ($202), an open knit cardigan ($503), and a slim fit Harrington jacket in regal blue ($292).

There's also the classic Fred/Raf hybrid polo shirt featuring a shirt stand collar and body 'darting' that creates a slimmer, cleaner silhouette, and orange double layer mesh sleeveless tennis shirts and short sleeve turtlenecks styled with slim fit trousers both in regal blue. See the gallery for more.

Gallery: Fred Perry x Raf Simons