Berlin has plenty of ways to do a Thursday night. Dark bars, late dinners and even later dance floors usually do the trick. But on September 3, ellesse made a convincing case for swapping all that for tennis, aperitivo and the Italian way.
For one evening, our Highsnobiety UDL space traded Berlin for a distinctly Milanese spin on the classic tennis club, created to celebrate ellesse’s Autumn/Winter 2026 collection and bring its latest vision of Italian sports style to life. Complete with plenty of Italian flair, vintage-inspired details and some seriously good aperitivos, the ellesse x Highsnobiety Tennis Club offered a fitting setting for a collection built around the idea that sportswear should work just as well off the court as it does on it.
The AW26 collection is the main story here: rooted in ellesse’s heritage, it brings together clean, simple silhouettes with a tailored touch, drawing on the brand’s longstanding connection to tennis and skiing. Designed for the court, the slopes and, perhaps most importantly, wherever you’re heading afterwards, the collection makes a case for sportswear with a little more personality.
That approach goes all the way back to ellesse’s beginnings in Perugia in 1959. Founded by tailor Leonardo Servadio, the brand was built around the idea that what you wore to play sport could be functional without sacrificing style. Expert tailoring, vivid color and a distinctly Italian confidence became signatures across skiing and tennis, establishing an aesthetic that was always as interested in the emotions and culture surrounding sport as it was in performance itself.
Fast-forward to AW26 and that philosophy remains firmly intact. The collection takes familiar sporting codes and gives them a more refined, fashion-conscious edge, with pieces that feel equally at home on the tennis court, around a ski resort or at the bar afterwards. Because really, what is skiing without après? Or tennis without a post-match cocktail?
That spirit was brought to life throughout the ellesse x Highsnobiety Tennis Club. Rather than simply recreating a traditional tennis club, the space interpreted the AW26 collection through the lens of 1980s Milan, borrowing from the bars, sports clubs and nightlife that defined the era. The result still felt unmistakably like a tennis club, but one that seemed much more interested in having a good time than enforcing the dress code.
And, as with any good night out, everyone eventually made their way to the bar. Inspired by the Milanese spots once frequented by the Paninari, each drink was served with its own “Rules of Play”: go for the double, only sweat for what you love, pleasure not points and extra points for personal style. Not exactly tennis advice, but pretty solid rules for an aperitivo.
Elsewhere, DJ Aitsana kept the party moving with disco-leaning sounds, while the aperitivos kept coming. And if you’re the kind of party-goer susceptible to hangovers, ellesse even considered the morning after: some of the first guests through the door picked up espresso tokens to redeem at a local Italian café, a small nod to the sacred pausa caffè and a pretty good reason to keep the Italian mood going past the early hours of the morning.
The collection itself remained front and center throughout the space. AW26 pieces were tucked into changing-room lockers in ellesse’s signature colors, turning the practical details of a tennis club into another opportunity to experience the collection. The styling reinforced the idea at the heart of AW26: that sporting clothes don’t have to stay on the sidelines once the match is over.
There was also a nod to “Do It Like An Italian,” the wider campaign supporting the AW26 story, which has seen Andrew Garfield take on the challenge of learning the finer points of Italian living. Shot by photographer Oliver Hadlee Pearch, the vintage-inspired imagery follows Garfield as he learns how to speak, how to play and, ultimately, how to exude Italian charisma. Here, however, the campaign serves as supporting context for the collection rather than the focus of the evening.
It’s an idea that neatly complements the attitude running through AW26. “Do It Like An Italian” is less about mastering a perfect Italian accent or dramatically improving your serve, and more about embracing the confidence, pleasure and personality that sit at the heart of ellesse’s approach to sport and style. Wear the outfit you actually want to wear. Put a little more personality into how you play. And, when the match is over, make sure you know where the aperitivo is.
That was ultimately what made the evening work. Tennis was everywhere, but nobody was keeping score. The AW26 collection provided the visual language, the cocktails were flowing and the soundtrack made leaving increasingly difficult. For a few hours, Berlin felt just a little more Milanese.
If AW26 is about bringing together sport, tailoring and Italian attitude, the ellesse x Highsnobiety Tennis Club was a pretty convincing demonstration of exactly how that looks—and, more importantly, how it feels.
