Sergio Tacchini

Sergio Tacchini is an Italian sportswear house founded in 1966 by the tennis player of the same name [7]. Born in the town of Bellinzago Novarese, near Novara, the company began as a maker of tennis clothing and grew into a lifestyle label associated first with the courts of the 1970s and 1980s and later with British casual and hip-hop street culture. It remains active today: the apparel business trades through a live e-commerce storefront, and a spring/summer 2026 collection has been promoted as marking the brand's 60th year.

For beauty retail, the relevant part of the business is a separate fragrance line. Sergio Tacchini's perfumes are produced and distributed under a licence held by Desire Fragrances Inc., signed in 2020, rather than by the fashion house itself [3].

The company was created by Sergio Tacchini, an Italian former professional tennis player born on 2 September 1938. After retiring from competition, he set up a clothing firm originally named Sandys S.p.A., which was later renamed after himself; some sources give the name simply as Sandys [7]. According to Wikipedia, the founding aim was "to experiment with colours and fabrics to create elegant and stylish tenniswear, at a time when white dominated the players' clothes." This idea of bringing colour and pattern into a sport that had traditionally been played in white became the label's founding story and its early point of difference.

Through the 1970s and 1980s the brand's tracksuits, polo shirts and tennis dresses became closely tied to professional tennis, worn by players including John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras and, later, Novak Djokovic. Its designs also spread beyond the court: the label became a fixture of 1980s British casual subculture and, over time, of hip-hop and street fashion, associated with artists such as Rakim, LL Cool J, Jay-Z and Travis Scott [5]. In 2001 Goran Ivanišević won Wimbledon as a wildcard while wearing the brand.

The company's commercial fortunes were less steady. It entered bankruptcy in 2007 [6], beginning a long sequence of ownership changes described below. In 2020 it signed a licence and distribution agreement covering perfumes for men and women, its principal move into the fragrance category.

Ownership of the apparel business has passed through several hands since the 2007 bankruptcy. Following that, the brand was acquired in 2008 by Hong Kong businessman Billy Ngok [7]; ownership then moved to Wintex Italia in 2013, to U.S. investment funds in 2019, and in 2022 to the South Korean group F&F Holdings, which the company reports paid $63 million with the deal closing on 20 July 2022 [6]. F&F Holdings, led by Kim Chang-soo, also owns the golf-equipment maker TaylorMade.

Sources disagree on who currently owns the brand. The English Wikipedia infobox still lists Billy Ngok, dating from the 2008 purchase [7], while more recently published trade and specialist coverage records the later transfers and names F&F Holdings as the present parent [6]. The later sources are used here for the current owner.

The fragrance line sits outside this apparel ownership. It is run under licence by Desire Fragrances Inc., which holds the rights to develop and distribute Sergio Tacchini perfumes; F&F Holdings' ownership applies to the apparel brand and its intellectual property, not to the fragrance licensee [6].

The company positions itself around Italian sportswear heritage and its origins in tennis, describing values such as craftsmanship and Italian style. Its stated mission is "Everything You Need To Win," and it frames its identity around the meeting point of sport, fashion and culture [2]. The homepage carries the tagline "Game On." The fragrance licensee echoes this framing, presenting the perfumes as drawing on the label's Italian heritage and its history of "infusing color into otherwise all-white sport" [4].

The core business is apparel and accessories: tracksuits, performance wear, polos, knitwear and velour styles, alongside items such as hats, socks, bags and wristbands.

Within beauty, the licensed fragrance range launched in 2022 under a Performance Collection. Its releases include Pure Black, which Desire Fragrances describes as "a lively, modern and charismatic fragrance," and Pacific Blue, "characterized by deep marine notes" [4]. The 2020 licence agreement was reported to cover perfumes for men and women, with distribution planned across more than 20 markets including Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States [3].

The brand is active. The apparel business trades through a live e-commerce storefront and has promoted a spring/summer 2026 collection presented as marking 60 years since its 1966 founding [9]. The fragrance line, licensed to Desire Fragrances Inc. since 2020, launched its first products in 2022 and is distributed across multiple markets.