‘A garment as iconic as the Masters’ green jacket’: Tory Burch and her grand Billie Jean King Cup designs

One thing is for sure, when the world champions are crowned at November’s Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas Finals – the women’s world cup of tennis – they will certainly be dressed for the occasion.

That is a given following this week’s announcement that luxury fashion label Tory Burch is the latest brand to partner with the historic competition, becoming the official outfitter of Billie Jean King Cup.

Clothing was of course a feature of the inaugural Finals in 2021, although Halloween costumes and Ted Lasso regalia are unlikely to be the inspiration – at the business end of proceedings, at least – this time around.

After all, tennis fan Burch is designing a winner’s jacket for the world champions and their team members, with her collection to be unveiled during the Finals, which take place in Glasgow from 8-13 November.

One of the 12 teams bidding for glory – Switzerland, Australia, Slovakia, Belgium, Great Britain, Canada, Czech Republic, Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, Spain and USA – will be leaving Scotland with more than a shiny new trophy. Sartorial elegance is the other prize on offer.

Billie Jean King Cup is the largest annual international women’s team event in sport and Burch has promised a garment befitting such status. She says the winners’ jacket will be “special and different”, hinting at something as iconic as the green jacket awarded at The Masters golf tournament.

That would be quite something. The Masters champion in the green jacket after triumphing at Augusta is one of the most recognisable moments in sport, so for Billie Jean King Cup to be able to replicate that would be spellbinding.

King herself has described the collaboration with Tory Burch as “a 21st century partnership that embraces ambition and focuses on advancing equality around the globe, using tennis to make a difference to the lives of others”.

Indeed, the values embodied by King – a champion on court and a pioneer off it, having dedicated her life to fighting discrimination – are reflected in the ethos of the 59-year-old tournament.

Billie Jean King Cup is a powerful mechanism for change and one of the platforms through which the ITF delivers its Advantage All gender equality initiative – a key pillar of the ITF 2024 strategy. The aim is to maintain and develop tennis as an equal advantage sport.

The ITF is committed to improving gender equality in all areas of the game, ensuring that tennis is a leading light in sport and society, while also empowering, inspiring and enabling women and girls to reach their full potential.

This is why the synergy with Tory Burch chimes so well, as the Tory Burch Foundation is also becoming a non-profit partner of Billie Jean King Cup. In collaboration with the ITF, the Foundation will launch an initiative in 2023 to advance gender equality.

Formed in 2009, the Foundation provides women entrepreneurs with access to capital, education and digital resources. Through its Embrace Ambition initiative, it also encourages women to “own their power, their drive and their dreams.”

An Embrace Ambition Summit takes place every two years – most recently on Tuesday, 14 June – and features presentations and conversations with activists, writers, athletes and politicians on the most pressing issues facing women and marginalised people.

Among this year’s speakers were Julianne Moore, actor and founding chair of the Everytown for Gun Safety Creative Council; Dolores Huerta, labor leader and cofounder of the United Farm Workers union; Oksana Masters, a 17-time Paralympic medalist; Arian Simone, president and CEO of Fearless Fund; Adri Perez, LGBTQIA+ and policy strategist at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and Heather Booth, a founder of The Jane Collective.

Tuesday’s summit proved the perfect time to announce Tory Burch’s new partnership with Billie Jean King Cup, with the two protagonists, King and Burch, showcasing their racket skills on stage by hitting balls signed with the words 'equality', 'equity', 'empower' and 'empathy' into the crowd.  

Thirty nine-time Grand Slam champion King — a friend of Burch’s and an “honorary member” of her tennis group — was also keen to deliver and reinforce a serious point about the new partnership.

“This is very important to me because we have the chance to have a global effect,” she said. “A lot of young people will be watching so it is a way to change culture, change people’s hearts and minds and say that equality does matter – and they can help make it happen.

“I want to create a culture around the Tory Burch brand. I want all women and girls to know that ambition is good. We want to send a very powerful message all around the world that ambition is good.”

Burch was happy to echo such sentiments and reply in kind. She said: “I am in awe of Billie Jean King for so many reasons. What she means to people is hard to describe. She symbolises hope and change.

“Look at what she has done for people. I need to say that I am in awe of her because I don’t say something like that very often. She is a dear friend and means so much to me personally, and so much to so many people.

“I just knew I wanted to partner with Billie Jean King Cup because of the icon that Billie is. In fact, I said ‘yes’ before I even knew what I was saying ‘yes’ to.”

The news of Tory Burch becoming the latest global partner of Billie Jean King Cup – Microsoft and Magellan Corporation are the others alongside title sponsor BNP Paribas – was the competition’s third major announcement in a matter of days.

The others were confirmation of the host city for the Finals, while only yesterday the draw for November’s Play-Offs was held, reinforcing the fact that the countdown to the next instalment of Billie Jean King Cup action is well and truly underway.

In short, it will soon be time to fasten those seatbelts as this is where dreams become reality – and thanks to Tory Burch, it will all be done with a greater sense of style and elegance.

To watch the Tory Burch Foundation Embrace Ambition Summit, please click here.