The young German’s swashbuckling playing style, all frantic dives and sprints to the net, got him due attention in the upper echelons of SW19, but it was his white and sky blue rig-outs that made waves further afield.

Italian brand Ellesse had been making skiwear and tennis gear in Perugia since 1959, and had previous on-court flirtations with both Chris Evert and the flamboyant Guillermo Vilas. It was through Becker though that Leonardo Servadio’s brand reached a new, loyal audience.

By 1985 football fans had been dressing like they were ready to trot out onto Centre Court for some time. Borg and McEnroe had cemented Fila and Sergio Tacchini’s place in casual folklore a good half a decade previously. Undoubtedly the more clued-up amongst the masses had discovered Ellesse at a similar time. The summer of 85 was a boiling point though, and a wiry, ginger German was about to become an unlikely style icon.

Would-be casuals soon found that Ellesse’s range of track-tops, polo shirts, sweaters and even tennis shorts were not only perfect for on-piste and on-court activities, but also for trying to look hard at a service station in Crewe. A classic European look, once favoured by the olive-skinned, slick young men of Milan, Turin and Rome, was now available to a new nation of pale, pasty, eager young men, all desperate to dress better than their friends.

Ellesse’s simplistic designs and iconic logo (half a tennis ball divided by two skis) soon became a staple for football fans across the land. From Merseyside and Manchester to Watford and civilised parts of Yorkshire, Servadio’s sportswear sat alongside other iconic brands of the era. Adidas, Tacchini, Fila and Ellesse. A European invasion.

As with all things during those years Ellesse’s moment in the sun would pass, but not before certain garments had passed into legend. Years later, teary-eyed reformed casuals, riddled with gout and sentimentality, still recall track tops with exciting names like Rimini and Ascari. Yearning for those halcyon days when they looked like Boris Becker.

To shop the new Ellesse range at Scotts, click here.

Image Credit: Colorsport / Stewart Fraser / REX