You have probably noticed it already. Scroll through your feed on any given afternoon and the outfits catching your eye are no longer borrowed from runway shows or street-style round-ups filmed outside fashion week venues. Instead, the looks generating the most saves, the most screenshots, the most quiet obsession come from an entirely different arena – literally. Pleated skirts that look like they belong on a tennis court, crisp white blazers that could double as warm-up layers, fitted polos you would happily wear to brunch. The aesthetic feels sporty and polished at the same time, and it turns out there is a reason it keeps showing up everywhere. The biggest style shift heading into next summer is not emerging from a design studio. It is coming straight from the world of athletics.
When athletes become the new style icons
In its latest summer trends report, published on May 26, Pinterest identified a decisive pivot: sport is no longer confined to performance and training. It has broken free from its original framework and established itself as a full-blown lifestyle, influencing fashion, beauty, and even daily routines. According to the platform, this transformation is being driven by athletic figures who have evolved into genuine cultural icons.
Pinterest specifically highlights figure skater Alysa Liu and tennis player Naomi Osaka as embodiments of this new wave. Osaka’s courtside looks generate as much conversation as her match results, while Liu’s visibility has skyrocketed in ways few could have predicted. The two athletes represent a generation in which a female competitor is simultaneously a muse and an influencer – someone whose wardrobe choices carry as much weight as her stats.
But is this really new? Not entirely. The report acknowledges that legends like Marie-José Pérec and Serena Williams laid the groundwork years ago. What has changed is the scale. The search data speaks for itself: queries related to Alysa Liu have surged by more than 39,000 percent, while those connected to freestyle skier Eileen Gu have climbed by more than 5,500 percent. Those are not modest upticks. They signal a cultural fascination that has moved well beyond niche sports communities.
Tennis takes center stage with a preppy twist
While football – boosted by the quadrennial World Cup cycle – continues to shape collective imagination, it is tennis that has emerged as the primary playing field for this trend. Pinterest has even coined a name for the movement: Courtside and Coastal Prep. The label captures a hybrid aesthetic that blends the visual language of racket sports with a summery, preppy sensibility – chic yet relaxed, structured yet effortless.
Think about what that looks like in practice. Striped polos are seeing a noticeable sales boost. Tennis skirts are making a full comeback. White blazers are multiplying across collections, and silhouettes inspired by match-day outfits are filtering into everyday wardrobes. This is not athleisure in the way we came to know it over the past decade – stretchy fabrics and sneakers paired with everything. It is something more deliberate, more curated. The sporty element is there, but it is dressed up, sharpened, given a sense of occasion.
The signature pieces tell the story clearly: fitted polos, pleated skirts, minimalist sneakers, and items drawn directly from the tennis club wardrobe. Together, they form a look that is both functional and desirable – clothing designed to move in, but also designed to be seen. That duality is precisely what makes the trend feel so relevant right now. We want our outfits to keep up with our pace of life without sacrificing a single ounce of style.
How to bring the court-to-street look into your own closet
What makes Courtside and Coastal Prep particularly appealing is its accessibility. You do not need to overhaul your wardrobe to tap into it. A single well-fitted polo in a classic stripe pattern can anchor an entire outfit. Pair it with a pleated midi skirt and clean white sneakers, and you are already there. A white blazer thrown over a simple tank and tailored shorts channels that same spirit without feeling costume-like.
The key, according to the trajectory Pinterest is mapping, is balance. The preppy codes – think collar details, structured fabrics, club-inspired color palettes – get softened by the sportswear influence, which keeps everything from feeling too rigid or formal. And the sportswear influence, in turn, gets elevated by the prep references, so nothing reads as too casual. It is a wardrobe built around ease and elegance in equal measure.
This is also a trend rooted in real cultural momentum. When the athletes people admire most are being celebrated as much for their personal style as for their victories, it makes sense that their visual world starts bleeding into mainstream fashion. Sport has become a genuine cultural and aesthetic language, and summer 2026 appears ready to speak it fluently.
Your summer wardrobe just found its new direction
Here is what you know now that you did not before: the defining silhouette of next summer will not come from a couture atelier. It will come from the tennis court, reshaped through a preppy lens and made wearable for every context from a weekend market stroll to a rooftop dinner. The numbers on Pinterest confirm the momentum is massive, the athletes driving it are already household names, and the clothes themselves are refreshingly easy to integrate into what you already own. Start with one piece – a pleated skirt, a striped polo, a pair of minimal sneakers – and let the rest follow naturally.
