"Oh, you're doing yellow and gray? Then so will we!!!?
 

Does anyone out there with some real inside knowledge of the tennis apparel world (or the sporting apparel world, since it seems about the same) know why most of the apparel companies now copy each other's colorways at the start of a new season? It seems companies used to go out of their way to distinguish themselves from each other in both design and color, but now you look at the Australian Open and virtually everyone is wearing yellow. adidas is the line that always seems to want to have all their players in the same hues (clearly a philosophy for them, having it seem that there's a sea of adidas players out there); Nike tends to have more variety, but they've got a bunch of yellow as well. Then the lesser brands, Lotto and Uniqlo and Wilson and the rest, all seem to latch onto the predominant color and mimic either adidas or Nike. It just doesn't make any real sense to me, but there is obviously a reason why this happens. Can anyone elucidate? Thanks.

IIRC, in the retail fashion world there is a whole sub-industry devoted to the forward planning of global colour trends in apparel. A fashion bureau in Paris or somewhere carefully decides what will be the hero colours in (x) years time. They then mobilise all the world's garment dye resources towards those ends so that in 2016, for example, every mass market clothing retailer on Earth will feature the same colour. Others feel free to correct me on this. I recall lime green and tangerine were popular colours back in 1992 or so.

My biggest complaint is the collective amnesia that sets in every year just before Wimbledon when every company unthinkingly issues plain white clothing to their pros. They forget that colour is permitted to be used on Wimbledon attire. They think Wimbledon's playing attire must be white without exception, when in fact it is merely predominantly white.

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I think you're spot on. However I think its a little more simpler than that. The fashion higher ups decide on a color to be and all the manufacturers scramble to match it and be "trendy".

Of course, the public is brainwashed by this and actually goes and buys the stuff, therefore cementing the fashion higher ups "vision"

I think you might be overstating the Wimby situation; I remember last season (I think), adidas had a great-looking Wimby shirt in ads that never showed up on court, probably because it had a tonal gray graphic on it that the guys at the AELTCC must have shot down. Chances are good the companies go simple because they know they won't have to worry about it being rejected.

one thing is Adidas typically goes with a color theme. and on top of that they have picked up more players than other brands have.

62 players (men and women)

so just about 25% of the combined men and womens draw will be wearing yellow. just for adidas

Well played, sir!

Just noticed Lotto is rocking the yellow too...

...and Wilson.

This is pretty well how it goes-most of the sports clothing is made in the far-east so colour ways are leaked long before they put sample swatches & catalogues together.

Wimbledon is a law unto itself - we will see it again in 2013 with ballboys & shopworkers/umpires wearing different Babolat Model shoes. All because 1 All England Club official decided the Babolat SFX shoe was too "colourful"(a bit of purple trim). As a result the ballboys will be wearing the Drive shoe which is much plainer (and cheaper).

adidasman is right, when dealing with AELTC ...keep it simple.

This was my basic understanding, as well. Someone somewhere decides what the main color is going to be for a season then the whole world is blanketed in said color. I feel like just in the past few years it's been worse with the tennis apparel. It seems like there are no alternatives in their seasonal lines anymore.

Probably not the reason, but that yellow contrasts well with the blue courts at the AO. Yes, I took a color theory class in college...

Monfils was wearing a yellow Asics crew, so that's Adidas, Lotto, Wilson, Asics.

Djoko has yellow on his Uniqlo shirts and shorts. Nike has some yellow dresses floating around. It's everywhere - Yellow Fever.

You would have to assume that, given the strident color of the courts in Melbourne, companies would want to avoid using colors that would clash badly with all that blue. (Yes, I have an art degree. :))

they all want to be like the cool kids wearing nike and adidas

Really? Because back in the 80's the Ballboys wore purple Nike shoes that matched the uniform.

Looks like the yellow fever isn't restricted to the sport of tennis. The ENTIRE UCLA basketball team is rocking neon yellow shoes too.

Ucla is sponsored by adidas. I think adidas has all sports with the same cw. I know most ucla ballers wear the chicago fire rose 3

We can't say New Balance is following the herd, judging by Raonic's black and green ensemble that he's wearing at the moment against Fed.