How Jean Patou and Suzanne Lenglen Redefined Women's Sportswear in the 1920s
The Roaring Twenties marked a cultural renaissance. Jazz electrified nightclubs, modernism took over art and literature, and on the tennis court, a quiet revolution unfolded, one stitched in silk and swagger. At the heart of this transformation stood French designer Jean Patou and tennis icon Suzanne Lenglen, two visionaries who forever changed the way women dressed, moved, and competed.
Wimbledon 1919: the moment of shock
At a time when women athletes were still expected to wear corsets, petticoats, and floor-length skirts, one match changed everything. On 7 July 1919, a 20-year-old Lenglen walked onto Wimbledon's Centre Court to face seven-time champion Dorothea Lambert Chambers in front of a sellout crowd of 8,000, including King George V and Queen Mary. Chambers wore the traditional uniform of the era: stays, petticoats, a high-necked blouse, and a skirt that swept the grass. Lenglen appeared in a calf-length pleated dress with no corset and no petticoat, her forearms bare. Some spectators were so scandalised by the sight of her ankles and arms that they walked out mid-match.
Lenglen won the final 10-8, 4-6, 9-7 in what is still remembered as one of the greatest women's matches ever played, and she went on to win Wimbledon singles six times between 1919 and 1925. That single afternoon on Worple Road did more to launch the sportswear revolution than any runway show could have.
La Divine: a champion built for the modern age
The French press nicknamed her "La Divine", The Goddess, and the record backs it up. Between 1919 and 1926 Lenglen lost only one match, a streak of 181 consecutive wins. At the 1920 Antwerp Olympics she took gold in singles and mixed doubles, plus bronze in women's doubles, without dropping more than four games across her entire singles run. She danced across the baseline in a way opponents simply couldn't match, all footwork and rhythm, more ballet than battle. That kind of movement was physically impossible in the layered, restrictive clothing women were still expected to wear.
The Match of the Century
Nowhere was Lenglen's star power clearer than on 16 February 1926, when she finally faced American rising star Helen Wills at the Carlton Club in Cannes. Ticket prices soared, spectators climbed onto rooftops and ladders to catch a glimpse, and European royalty filled the stands. Lenglen won in straight sets, 6-3, 8-6, in what press around the world dubbed the "Match of the Century." True to her reputation, she steadied her nerves between games with sugar cubes soaked in cognac, tucked discreetly into her courtside water bottle, a habit almost as famous as her tennis.
A legacy stitched into the game
Together, Lenglen and Patou didn't just design clothing. They redefined what it meant to be a modern woman in sport. Lenglen's presence on the court, confident, elegant, unapologetically athletic, became a symbol of female freedom at a time when liberation was becoming the heartbeat of the cultural conversation.
This was more than a fashion moment. It was the birth of women's sportswear: the idea that athletic performance and personal expression could coexist, stylishly, powerfully, now stitched into the very fabric of tennis history.
At the ACE hub, we celebrate pioneers like Suzanne Lenglen and Jean Patou, trailblazers who proved that sport is not only about winning but about movement, identity, and style. Discover our latest collection honoring the sport's rich heritage and timeless elegance.