Little did Lauren Hocker and Lacey Keally know that their pandemic pastime would one day result in them entering the world of tennis apparel.
40-Love Tennis is the newest and hottest tennis apparel brand to hit Brentwood and makes anyone who wears it feels like a true tennis professional, regardless of skill level.
Lauren and Lacey met 15 years ago whilst working in publications and quickly became friends. The pandemic granted the two with an abundance of free time, causing them to invest in a new hobby: tennis.
“We quickly fell in love with the game. We enjoyed being outdoors and meeting new people from all different clubs,” Lacey says.
As their tennis skills grew, they began to look for better apparel in which to invest.
“We were looking for clothes as we were getting better. We realized we needed to invest in tennis clothing, and we noticed there weren’t a lot of options out there,” Lauren explains. “The tennis apparel seemed basic, not a lot of fashion.”
“After the pandemic, we seized the opportunity to launch our own tennis line, leveraging our marketing and business backgrounds. With the right designer and manufacturers on board, we were ready to bring our vision to life,” Lauren explains.
Thus, 40-Love was born.
The first 40-Love collection launched in October 2023 and is considered a true collection, meaning that all of the pieces in the collection perfectly complement one another. Each piece is timeless and classy, and with its color palette being black, white, and navy, it’s easy to create several different outfits from this collection.
“It’s a throwback to the Farrah Fawcett days of tennis to where we want it to be classic, but also modern,” Lacey explains.
These days, when Lauren and Lacey head to the courts, they often find their opponents sporting 40-Love.
“I actually went to a match two days ago and was wearing the same thing as my opponent, and it was our 40-Love, and that’s exciting now to see people wearing our products!” Lacey says.
Besides working on their spring collection, which is expected to launch in early March, Lauren and Lacey are also event co-chairs for Friends & Fashion, which raises funds for Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Friends & Fashion will take place on April 2.
The 40-Love team also offers pop-up shops to serve customers in style.
@40lovetenniswear
40-LoveTennis.com
Article by Sophie Brock
Photography by Jami-lyn Fehr and Adrian Morales
Originally published in Brentwood Lifestyle