In previous years, Ana Ivanovic was Adidas‘ leading fashion representative, and just as Simona Halep took that throne after the Serb’s retirement, the word is out that the German company will no longer be her clothing sponsor due to a bizarre discrepancy in timing. Whether this is Halep’s last year with Adidas or not, the clothes that accompanied her on her rise to her No.1 ranking in 2017 were nothing short of spectacular, so let’s have a look at them as part of my Fashion Retrospections.
Just as it will be the case in 2018, the Romanian’s season 2017 started in Shenzhen, in her previous season’s US Open attire — the tech steel Adidas Fall Pro Tank, featuring contrast racerback, paired with the cute Adidas Fall Pro Shorts, unique for their white woven mesh layer over a geometric print.
Adidas’ Australian Open fashion was inspired by the host city’s terrain. The layers of Halep’s airy Adidas Melbourne Tank symbolize depth of the ocean, while the bleached print in the collection looks like it was made by Australian tireless sun. The 26-year-old combined the top and its orange spaghetti straps with navy shorts accented by orange binding.
In St. Petersburg, Halep showcased the long-sleeve top from the Melbourne range and the glow orange skirt whose print on the inner compression shorts matches the printed sleeve of the top.
My favorite ensemble from the Australian Open line combines the Adidas Melbourne Tank and the lightweight print woven shorts that Halep sported at the BNP Paribas Open.
In Indian Wells and Miami, Halep also worked the navy version of the tank and the already-mentioned wrap-design orange skort.
Besides the airy layers, the Melbourne tank features beautiful contrast spaghetti straps that cover the upper back like sunrays.
For those who like to be more covered, there is this Adidas Spring Melbourne Top that Halep wore en route to her Mutua Madrid Open title.
Adidas’ second collection in 2018 was launched at the French Open and it was all about green, white and grey colorblocks accentuated by bold emblems, inspired by the venue of the Parisian Grand Slam. The Adidas Roland Garros Tank introduces thick multi-color elastic straps and matches them with asymmetrical bi-tonal pleats of the skirt.
In Eastbourne, Halep showcased the 3/4 sleeve top from the Roland Garros collection.
At Wimbledon, Halep rocked Part 1 of Adidas’ “Evil Twin” series, known for its focus on different fabrics and textures that bring visual interest to the all-white look. The Romanian debuted the Adidas London Tank, featuring laser-cut mesh sections, high neckline and unique keyhole cutouts at back, and the Adidas London Line Shorts that have side pockets for extra storage.
In Washington, Toronto and Cincinnati, Halep sported the Adidas US Series Tank, recognizable for its relaxed fit that exposes the bright yellow bra, and the Adidas US Series Skirt, that is just as all the other Romanian’s skirts equipped with built-in compression shorts.
Besides the eye-catching contrast bra, the tank’s Climacool engineered mesh at back gives the tank extra edge, as well as added ventilation.
The US Open always brings the most surprising and extravagant fashion choices, but Adidas brought something absolutely unexpected — musician Pharrell Williams designed the New York tennis collection, whose vintage colorblocks and engineered knitwear are inspired by the ‘70s style.
The collared tank evokes heritage Adidas style, while racerback and keyhole cutout give a necessary contemporary dimension to the retro look. The pleated dark blue skirt captivates with its beautifully simple contrast printed stripes at hem and subtle engineered argyle pattern.
Halep didn’t enjoy the US Open kit for long, as she lost to Maria Sharapova in a dramatic first-round encounter.
The energy pink and dark burgundy version of the US Series separates accompanied Halep during her biggest career moment: her rise to the top of the WTA rankings at the China Open. Moreover, it was in this outfit that Halep defeated Sharapova for the first time in eight tries, also in Beijing, and closed the season at the WTA Finals in Singapore.
Simona’s 2017 outfit that made the biggest impact on me was definitely the US Open one, because of its vintage feel updated by beautiful modern touches and performance details. I know that some people hated it and compared it to a fast-food-chain uniform, but I disagree. What do you say? What’s your favorite Halep’s style?
I loved how Simona gave us a variety of different looking outfits, with the different shorts and skirts and tanks. She looked great in all and my favorite was the sporty and sophisticated French Open look.
I love Miami and IW style.
Simona’s Washington look was a disaster. While her playing DC was a last-minute decision after being rejected for a Stanford wild card, a hat-less all-black kit in our notorious mid-afternoon heat was insane, no matter how much Adidas claimed its fabric breathes. Cahill even addressed this on Twitter after her first-round win.
No wonder here, while Muguruza and Wozniacki had unique outfits signed by Stella McCartney, Simona was wearing what half of the tournament was wearing, sometimes looking just ridiculous. Remember that clown Adidas dress while she was facing Sharapova in her lace and Swarowski outfit? That alone would be enough to lose self confidence.
I love her RG dress but I adore her us open dress. For me, it’s her best outfit of the year
I love the energy pink and dark burgundy version of the US Series separates on her. It really makes her more sporty. I’ll give a runner up to her French Open outfit.
Alex, even though the USO look is my favorite, I like your comment as it really made me laugh 😀
What WOULDN”T Simo look good in? Her physique is athletic perfection. I hope she stays with adidas. It’s still just a rumor that she’s leaving. Let’s see what she’s wearing next week in China.
I liked the Australian open gear – clean lines but interesting design – although other players were wearing the best versions of it. The blue and orange gear is pretty, especially the turquoise version, but I wonder how comfortable it is with so little support up top. The green and white is nice, but I really dislike the yellow-and-black thing and the red and burgundy version is only marginally better. It is ugly and unflattering. I like the Pharrell Williams designs because they are interesting and different, although this is probably not the best one of them as it is too busy. Also so many players were wearing it and it was overexposed. Overall Adidas generally does something interesting and reasonably attractive.