Brand in Focus: Fred Perry
Shannon Firby on Fri, Jun 02, 23
Fred Perry: Piqué-ing your interest with sports and streetwear since '52
"The Laurel Wreath remains a signature of both individuality and belonging, from elite sportsmen to fringe subculture."
For those of you that wanna know 'is Fred Perry a good brand?' ... The proof is in the pudding, my friends. It's not an iconic British brand for nothing.
So in the interest of keeping the Fred Perry spiel to a minimum, we've devised a little top picks from the brands SS23 collection. With some polo shirt perennials or tantalising track tops that'll make you wanna drag that needle on over an old vinyl by The Specials or take it back to the heyday of the Hacienda.
The Fred Perry Timeline: 1952 - right now.
One of the most iconic British brands in history, Fred Perry has been serving up treats since the 1950's, with an ethos that's always been about integrity and authenticity, and supplying polo shirts (and more) to the masses.
Known for the panache of the Fred Perry M3 Polo Shirt, with twin tipping and placket collars galore, the Fred Perry legacy continues to shake its big ol' racket, effortlessly blending sportswear and streetwear for anyone and everyone.
Plus, bringing with it a rolodex of tennis puns and 1980's music references that keep the spirit of the brand alive, it's become a pretty quintessential part of British subculture that requires little in the way of an introduction.
The M3600, a slightly slimmer version of the OG M12 twin-tipped polo shirt.
The M12 was the first polo shirt to take Fred Perry from sportswear to streetwear back in the 50's and the M3600 is a continuation of that.
It's become a piece of British subculture uniform since the 50's adopted by generation after generation that all seem to make it their own.
A streamlined silhouette in a range of colourways.
Made in England.
The Ringer T-Shirt's a little nod towards the old sports training gear, but in true Fred Perry fashion, it was adopted by subcultures and made their own in the 1970's.
From then and beyond, the Fred Perry Ringer was made in bold, contrasting colours with a little nod to the Fred Perry tones of each season.
A sportswear-cum-street style favourite, the track jacket. You'll be hard-pressed to find a TV show or film with a 1980's/1990's flashback that doesn't involve one of these.
Truly taken under its wing by the Britpop era, thanks to the likes of Oasis, it was styles like the taped track top that really spurred on the evolution of sportswear as streetwear.
Tricot, man-made fibres and bold colours, from an era where sports team really started to introduce a bit more to their team kits.
Clean and simple with the with quintessential Fred Perry detailing to the cuffs, a spot of twin-tipping.
Legend has it, twin tipping came about as per a request from a buyer at Lilywhites who wanted to add football team colours to the original Fred Perry Polo Shirt. Since then, everything's been twin-tipped from sweatshirts and hoodies to t-shirts. That's true brand authenticity.
An honorary member of the Fred Perry smart collection, this one's got a bit less of a sportswear flavour, but it's still Fred Perry through and through.
All sportsmen need a well deserved break and this linen blend shirt will do the trick. Inspired by the type of beach shirt Fred Perry himself was cruising about in in the summer, way back in the 1960's.
Homegrown in Stockport, you'll struggle to find a brand with a richer tie to the fringe subcultures and some of the bits that make the U.K. what it is. Fred Perry's collection, year after year, comes souped up with the best perennial wardrobe staples like Polo Shirts, Ringer Tee's and Track Tops in bold, new colourways. Plus, each season gets an injection of statement Overshirts, bomber jackets and Harrington jackets that each come with their own back story.
