ANYONE FOR TENNIS – IN A POLO SHIRT?
If we’re told that someone’s wearing Levis, Raybans, Nikes and a polo shirt, we can instantly tell what the outfit looks like because of the brand names. The power of branding has led to certain brands being associated with certain items of clothing, with the exception of the polo shirt.
Contrary to popular opinion, the polo shirt doesn’t have its origins in Ralph Lauren’s famous brand but rather in the sport of kings itself. Way back in the 1800s, polo players began wearing shirts with a button-down collar so that they didn’t flap around in the wind. These long-sleeved pullovers were manufactured from a thick knitted cotton.
An embroidered polo shirt with the logo of a polo player astride a polo pony was first made by an Argentinian haberdasher in the mid 1920s, and was first worn by members of the Hurlingham Polo Club near Buenos Aires. Around the same time, word got out about the shirt that famous French tennis star, Rene Lacoste had invented – an unstarched white shirt made from a loose knit cotton with a thick flat collar. Lacoste, seven time Grand Slam champion, first wore his new shirt at the US Open Final in 1926 and it soon became the players’ first choice of attire.
Polo shirts may have originated on the fields of green and with polo players, but today, there are universally associated with golf and tennis. The embroidered polo shirt became even bigger news when Ralph Lauren brought out a line of classics in 24 colours.
The polo shirt is today one of the most popular promotional products that organisations use to display their brand. Their fashion appeal, practicality and wearability makes them one of the world’s most popular promotional products. If the embroidery or polo shirt screen printing is done professionally, they look fantastic. The better the quality – the more effective the brand awareness..
There are several different ways that logos can be applied to products. A reputable promotional products company will be able to advise what technology will suit your product and your budget best. For example, when it comes to transferring images onto polo shirts, T-shirts and other items of clothing, there are advantages to each process, but one great advantage with embroidery over screen printing is that the price is calculated on the coverage of the design and not the colour, so one can use six colours in embroidery for the same price as one.
Not everyone can own a Ralph Lauren original. However, as more and more organisations realise the huge opportunities that embroidered polo shirts present (ie enhancing corporate identity, strengthening customer loyalty, incentivizing and motivating employees etc), more and more people will be wearing a branded polo shirt of their own!
