Two New Books on Sports and Style Icons

by · WWD
The cover of the ATP book.Courtesy

Fall is in full swing and that means book publishers are offering new tomes for fans of the printed page.

For menswear enthusiasts, there are two books that delve into different parts of menswear: one about style in general and the other about tennis fashion.

First up is “ATP No. 1 Club: Icons of Men’s Tennis.” The book, published by Phaidon, features a preface by Andrea Gaudenzi, chairman of the ATP, a foreword by former player Rod Laver and text by tennis writer Mark Hodgkinson.

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Last year, the ATP created the No. 1 Club to celebrate a group of players, past and present, who have been ranked at the top since the list was created in 1973. Through more than 300 photographs, the book highlights 29 “game changers” — from Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner — and explores how each one “found a new edge that advanced his cause as well as the entire sport.”

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The book is organized chronologically, starting with Ilie Nastase and ending with Sinner, and includes written profiles of each player along with a collection of archival photos. Tackled within the copy are the on- and off-court rivalries as well as a peek behind the scenes that helps bring the sport to life.

The 304-page book, which features a cobalt blue cover with a cutout of a tennis ball, retails for $59.95.

And on Oct. 29, Assouline will launch “Allure of Men,” a new edition of a book first published more than 20 years ago that explores masculinity and charisma. Gary Cooper, who appeared on the original cover, is now featured on the back cover and Lenny Kravitz has replaced him.

The cover of the book features Lenny Kravitz.Courtesy of Assouline

French author and DJ Ariel Wizman wrote the text for this edition and documents how the definition has changed over the years. “Allure is not a matter of rules or of symmetry. It is what a man gives off when he has stopped asking to be looked at,” Wizman writes.

The book features historical portraits, street photography and editorial shoots and includes music stars such as David Bowie and Snoop Dogg along with actors including Sidney Poitier and Daniel Craig, as well as athletes Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Lewis Hamilton.

Fashion designers are also represented and range from Hubert de Givenchy and Yves Saint Laurent to Dapper Dan and Tom Ford.

The 200-page book, which features a linen hardcover, will sell for $120 online and at Assouline boutiques globally.