Style&Tales

“AVA aristocratic heritage”

Those sneaky steps from the deck to the court that landed at the modern city dress code

Today people use to refer to their sneakers as “the tennis shoes”.
In fact all the athletic styled shoes originate from the tennis shoe, which came into being in the early XIX century.
The origin of the tennis shoe can be traced back to the British Navy. The first rubber soled canvas shoes, called plimsolls, were designed and manufactured specifically for the sailors on the large British fleet who needed shoes they could wear on deck to prevent them from slipping and sliding on the wet surfaces.

British aristocrats began to use them for recreational activities that were spreading at that time, such as playing tennis.
The rubber soles did not mark up or damaged the tennis court, and at the same time with their grip they allowed players to stop and start quickly. Since they were silent when you walked, unlike the shoes of the day that had solid hard soles and made quite a noise when walking, they were named “sneakers”.

During the following decades these shoes grew more and more popular and spurred rapid development of improved models and new styles. Still they remained essentially the same in design from that time until around the late 1960’s, as different companies introduced the leather into the uppers instead of canvas. This was a tremendous success.
1970’s was the time of Polyurethane outsole, suede on the toe and a mesh upper. This innovation made the shoe more durable, comfortable and breathable. As the stars of the court became involved with the manufacturers, the development of the tennis shoe started to gain momentum taking on a whole new look and feel and branching out from the sneaker from which it originated.

AVA COLLECTION revives the original elegant tennis look loved by the pioneer aristocratic sportsmen. AVA’s new summer looks are made out of soft leathers and suedes combined with either a nylon mesh or corduroy stamped suede. The linings are thinner for ultimate comfort and a breathable feel.