Strawberries and Tennis.

Still from Babia Alexiadis's Animation

I am terrible at playing tennis but love watching it especially during the summer months when Wimbledon takes over the BBC . This is also when I can happily munch away on strawberry's and cream until I can eat no more...yum yum!

The sports brand, Ellesse has had a long tradition with tennis and the brand turns a grand old, 50 this year and to mark the occasion they launched the competition, 'Create Tennis Art'. The aims are to commemorate the brand and it's roots in tennis and the applications can range from fine art to street art. Unfortunately the closing date for entries has passed already so we can only wait until July on the outcome of the winning entries which will be found on ttp://www.ellesse.com/50thAnniversary/.

The sports brand also collaborated with illustrator, Si Scott, animator Babis Alexiadis and artist Kate Gibb to further promote the competition.

Illustrator and typographer Si developed a flyer.

Textile print artist Kate produced this pretty silk print which captures the energetic movement of the tennis player.

Greek animator, Babis Alexiadis came up an animation using such materials as textured paper and textiles. The end result is fun, colourful and youthful.

Create Tennis Art- ellesse from Babis Alexiadis on Vimeo.

To further promote the competition, Ellesse commissioned LCF students from BA Fashion Contour and BA active sportswear students to design garments that reflect the brand's heritage in tennis. The following are the winning designs from this special LCF competition.

The winner of the first prize is Eva Lai who is studying BA (Hons) Fashion Contour. Her design reworks the iconic tennis dress. The contour of the bodice echoes the curves of a tennis ball while the white lines of the tennis court sculpt the body. I really like how it captures the energy and quick movements of the tennis player and how the pleats reflect the 'timeline' of the brands history with the sport.

The second price was won by BA Fashion Contour student, Diana Auria Harris. Diana’s design is a structural dress with an exaggerated silhouette. It was inspired by the ellesse logo but quite clearly has a fun element with the dress taking the shape of the tennis ball. For all the attention Sharapova's wardrobe gets on court, it would be quite something if she decided to wear this but somehow I don't think she would be able to play in it!

Third prize was won by Alex Green whose design was influenced by futurism and the fantastic Hussein Chalayan. The idea incorporates knitting and even incoporates the craze of 'scoobies' (which my youngest sister was hopelessly addicted to making) which are essentially plaited plastic friendship bracelets. I'm quite intrigued to see how these would be look in the actual, realised garment. Oh and to finish off...here is a little strawberry cupcake inspiration from Flickr's Hannah of Honey and Jam

I must have a go at making my own soon!