Fred Perry
In the late 1940s Fred Perry, a professional Tennis player was approached by Tibby Wegner, an Austrian footballer who had invented an device worn around the wrist to protect the handle from perspiration. Fred Perry made a few changes and invented the sweatband. Wegner's next idea was to produce a sports shirt which was to be made from white knitted cotton pique with short sleeves and buttons down the front. Launched at Wimbledon in 1952, the Fred Perry polo shirt was an immediate success due to the clever marketing. The polo shirts were offered to BBC cameramen, while Fred Perry and Dan Maskel also wore them when commentating. The brand is best known for its laurel logo, which appears on the left breast of the polo shirts. The laurel logo (based on the old Wimbledon symbol) was stitched into the fabric of the shirt instead of merely ironed on (as was the case with the crocodile logo of the competing Lacoste brand).
The Fred Perry polo shirt was only available in white until the late 50s when the mods picked up on it and demanded a more varied color palette. It was the shirt of choice for diverse groups of teenagers throughout the 1960s and 70s, ranging from the skinheads and Manchester's very own "Perry Boys", a group of violent football supporters. In recent years Fred Perry has been a very popular brand again with youths, with its signature fit and style it’s not difficult to see why this polo shirt is back for good.
Rlelated terms: Fred Perry Polo, Fred Perry Polo Shirt, Fred Perry Polo Shirts, Fred Perry Polos, Fred Perry twin tipped, black, white, blue, navy, green, ice, red, slim fit, yellow, pink, grey, purple, berry wine, solid, striped, pique, checkerboard, jacquard, custom polo