“STAN!” yells an elderly fan in the Wimbledon hall, noticing a tall, smartly dressed man in his seventies. He moves gracefully between the lanes of the All England Club, his face hidden under a Panama hat, blending in with the other patrons. Maybe they’re old friends.
A guard leads the gentleman to a members-only area and he goes up the stairs. The sunlight catches the Stan Smith branding on the back of his shoe and suddenly it makes sense.
Returning to the media room, I tell two colleagues that I just saw the Stan Smith. Their eyes light up, for various reasons. “No way, look, I’m wearing his sneakers!” says the younger of the two, who is in his twenties. The elderly colleague in his 50s is seized with a moment of nostalgia, his thoughts flashing back to the day Smith defeated Ilie Nastase in the 1972 final.
Wimbledon champion turned global fashion icon, Smith has two distinct identities. He agrees to meet outside the media center at 1:30 pm the next day and shows up right on time with a new pair of his trainers on.
‘Sunday I’ll be at the Royal Box, then I’ll go to Scotland and play a bit of golf. I don’t know who will be there, but they always invite a lot of the men’s champions to Sunday. Guys like Jan Kodes, Rod Laver, Neale Fraser.”
Stan Smith (pictured) made a name for himself during a successful 16-year tennis career
Last year it was 50 years ago that Smith won Wimbledon, one of his two Grand Slams
What about the royal family? Kate should be there. I’ve given her shoes for her kids a few times. I wasn’t sure if it was allowed or not, but I gave some Velcro for George and Charlotte three years ago. Two years ago I gave Louis a little baby shoe. They’ve probably grown out of it now. I’ll have to ask her if she’s having any more children!’
Smith wears last year’s anniversary shoe. One of four pairs he packed when he left his home in South Carolina. Printed on the inside is July 9, 1972, marking 50 years since his Grand Slam victory.
“In 1965 I played in the qualifier and lost to a guy named Geoff Bluett. His name was pronounced “bless it” and I lost after playing two sets, so it was appropriate. In the end, I came in as a lucky loser. One of my four goals was to win Wimbledon, so it was a step in the right direction.
“In ’65, a US Tennis Association guy would give us 12 pounds a day until you lost.”
Smith was staying at a bed and breakfast down the street. There was no official car deal, so every day a random vehicle showed up outside to take him to the meeting point at the Secretariat. He remembers one time he was picked up in a Rolls-Royce. On another, a Bentley.
By the time he was crowned champion in 1972 he had visited London enough to make some friends in the area. An American couple, the Catos, took him under their care and placed him in their guest room during the game.
“I stayed with them for four or five years, before I got married,” says Smith, imposing as ever at six feet tall. “I stayed in their youth bed which was about six feet long and so wide [stretching out his arms] when I won Wimbledon in 1972.
Smith stayed in a bed and breakfast near Wimbledon during the early stages of his career
Our game ended up raining out, so it was the first time the men’s final was played on a Sunday. The year before I had lost to John Newcombe in the fifth set of the final.
“Against Nastase I lost the first set like the year before, won the next two sets like the year before, lost the fourth set like the year before and had match point at 5-4. I didn’t break and then he was 40-love ahead at 5-6. After a few returns it’s deuce and I hit a winner to get back to match point.
“I got a good return, he half volleyed and came to the net, then I tried to lob over his head. It went to the backhand side and he hit the smash, the net wobbled for about two seconds and the ball fell on its side. Suddenly it was over and I threw my racket about 12 meters into the air.’
With his success on the field, life began to change. Smith became more than just a tennis player. Looking for a sponsorship deal with adidas for racquets, apparel and footwear, he landed on one of the biggest endorsement deals in sports history.
“It was around the time I won Wimbledon that we made the deal on the boots,” he says. ‘It was just before, in Paris, where it started. Horst Dassler, the son of Adi Dassler, wanted to meet at 12 o’clock. I told my agent I had a game at 2pm and I didn’t want to meet right before a game, but it turned out Horst wanted to meet at midnight! He was one of those guys who worked around the clock.
He has become a fashion icon since earning one of the biggest endorsements in sports history with Adidas
‘Our first meeting was at a nightclub called Elle et Lui. It was an impersonation club for men, where women were dressed in tuxedos. He loved this place, so that’s where I met him.
“There was a group of us wearing a tennis shoe with Robert Haillet’s name on it. They wanted a stronger presence in the US and Haillet, who was the number 1 French player, was not well known in the US. So for about four or five years they had my picture on the tongue and Robert’s name on the side. In the end they took his name off.
‘Once we had a big party in Paris and the Guinness Book of Records came along. They issued a certificate for 70 million pairs sold, or something like that. Robert was there and so was his son, who was a few years younger than me. He knew the whole story. He was unlucky in a way…”
Smith inadvertently became one of the most recognizable names in the apparel industry, with more than 100 million shoes sold. About 100 of those pairs are in Smith’s personal wardrobe. Not bad for someone who claims to be ‘not really into fashion’.
“It was weird playing matches and looking at my picture when I brought the serve back. The ATP had a deal with adidas that gave about 80 players free clothes and shoes. That shoe was the first leather tennis shoe, so it was a pretty big deal and many players wanted to wear it.
“A guy liked my shoe, but he had a deal with another company, so he crossed out my logo with a Sharpie and signed on his own company.”
Smith gives Catherine, Princess of Wales, a signed baby ‘Stan Smith’ trainer in the Royal Box
Smith says Hugh Grant told him he was wearing Stan Smith sneakers the first time he kissed a girl
Today, Stan Smiths are a beacon of pop culture. Worn by David Bowie and featured in the lyrics to Jay-Z’s multi-platinum albums. They are typically white leather with a hint of green.
He recalls, “I didn’t know if he knew me, but Hugh Grant sat back in the Royal Box a few years ago and said, ‘The first girl I ever kissed, I wore your shoe,'” he says with a smile . .
“The great thing is that people wear it because they like it. They are not paid to wear it. It was nice to see Barack Obama wearing the shoe, Donald Trump’s wife Melania, Princess Di, Kate.
My book is called Stan Smith: Some People Think I’m a Shoe. I should change it to make most people think I’m a shoe! The average person under 40 would have no idea I was a tennis player. Sometimes I see someone wearing my shoe and I ask how they keep their shoes so white. They look at me and think, ‘Who is this idiot?’
But here at Wimbledon, where it often feels like time stands still, Smith will always be remembered for his achievements with a racket. Trainers are prohibited in the Royal Box anyway.