Is Premium Apparel Brand Pulco on the verge of giving Padel its distinct look?

7 min

reading time

Every sport has its look. The snowboarders sporting their Burton jackets, the surfers donning their baggy Billabong shorts, the golfers in their Titleist caps, the skaters with their Vans or Supremes. Then, there’s tennis, which arguably has an identity more distinct that any other with its Wimbledon all-white dress code, its collared polos and its crisp bandanas. And so, what about padel, which, with tennis brands rehashing their existing collections branded as ‘padel’, doesn’t yet have its distinctive recognisable look. Yet, that is, because as former Canterbury of New Zealand, Levi Strauss and Speedo CEO Joe Middleton explains, “padel is better than that”. Here, Middleton, who today is the Founding CEO of what is emerging as padel’s go-to premium apparel brand Pulco, explains.

Cage 91 Co. is powered by Taktika Equity

Five minutes in the company of Joe Middleton, and you can be drawn into thinking this unassuming Englishman should be putting his feet up. Such are the stories from a long and esteemed career in fashion which, in most peoples’ book, would be enough for one career. Enough for one life. A life well lived. However, that’s not Middleton, because embark on a longer conversation as I did, and you soon realise he’s not done. Not by a long shot. Unfinished business? Coming out of retirement? Choose your cliche, but there is nothing cliched about what this global fashion professional is embarking on in his new life as Founding CEO of Pulco Studios.

Drawing from a distinguished background in marketing and fashion, Middleton, a former executive at Levi Strauss, is on a mission to redefine what it means to dress for padel. His and Pulco’s journey is set to be about far more than launching a new clothing line; it’s about creating an identity – establishing a look – for padel, just as tennis did with visors, bandanas, bicycle shorts and baseball caps in the ‘70s, ‘80s and beyond. Padel, as Middleton, asserts, needs its own look, needs to establish some clear blue water from its big brother, tennis.

It’s not obvious where to start telling the story of Pulco – arguably one of the hottest padel apparel companies on the fledgling, but fast-growing, padel market right now. There’s nowhere better to start than with Middleton and his 25 year-plus career in fashion and sport at Levis, Speedo, Canterbury and, now, Pulco. We could also start in Acapulco in the 1960s, where eccentric millionaire Enrique Corcuera modified a tennis court on his estate. Or, how’s about the breakfast table with Nike Co-Founder Bill Bowerman in 1972? Or, should we regale you with the tales of an undisclosed sewing mill in the Italian hills, which, according to Middleton, might finally have put to bed the unanswered question of the “sweaty-t-shirt-problem”?

The much appreciated father-in-law

We will start the story in London two years ago, when Jamie, Middleton’s son-in-law and Co-founder of Padel Social Club, sat down with him to get his advice when buying clothing for the new club’s staff. Middleton’s career as an Levi’s executive reads like anyone’s bucket list for places to live, including stretches in San Francisco, New Zealand, Sweden, and Brussels, and so it’s not hard to see why Jamie came to his father in law for some words of wisdom.

Studying the sport

Middleton, who did not know padel very well at this time, went to study the sport and its players. Realizing that padel lacked its own clothing identity, he saw a challenge and an opportunity: to create something new for the padel apparel market that was simultaneously had an aesthetically unique design and was practical to wear. He wanted to create something that embodied padel’s rebellious and anti-establishment DNA. 

Cage 91 Co. is powered by Taktika Equity

The players Middleton talked to and studied all said two things:

1. We are not tennis

Padel is a modern movement, not held back by old standards and customs. Men and women all play together, and the focus is on good times with friends and family. Pulco will not be making any specific clothing for men and women – no skirt for the ladies and no collars for the guys.

Padel is becoming a statement, and Pulco the placard it is written on.

Padel is the maverick, anti-establishment sport, originating for Acapulco in the ’60s, when Enrique Corcuera wanted to build a tennis court on his estate, but found the space too limiting. Corcuera had to settle by surrounding the court with glass walls to prevent the ball from flying over the steep cliffs running down into the Pacific Ocean. Corcuera, who threw many parties for the rich and famous coming to Acapulco, spread the game of padel via the guests that frequented his home. 

2. We have a sweat and moisture problem

For gear to be unique for a sport, you need true innovation. Here, Middleton and Pulco are drawing inspiration from Nike and Adidas who both accelerated the development of sport shoes. For Adidas, the real game changer came when Adi Dassler designed the boots for the West German football team to wear in the 1954 FIFA World Cup.

Known as the ‘Miracle of Berne’, this game was one of the finest achievements in the history of German sport. Thought to be the underdogs, they beat the powerful Hungarian team 3-2. Helmut Rahn wore his stunning new pair of Adidas Argentinas when he booted the winning goal. Lighter than previous models, thanks to a combination of leather and synthetic materials, Rahn’s new football boots gave him a clear advantage. Adi Dassler had just worked on a technical innovation known as removable studs, which were to be screwed in depending on the state of the pitch. With the pouring rain and wet pitch, the studs gave the Germans a headstart thanks to the added grip on the muddy turf. 

For Nike, their big breakthrough came from the breakfast table of Co-Founder Bill Bowerman. University of Oregon had decided to replace its cinder track with an artificial one, and Bowerman wanted to design a shoe that would grip the artificial track without spikes. One morning over breakfast, his wife’s waffle iron provided the inspiration for the new shoes. Bowerman could envision a new sole, perfect for use on artificial turf. He immediately began experimenting by pouring polyurethane into the waffle iron, creating the first prototypes of Nike’s waffle sole. The waffle iron – a wedding present for the Bowermans – was ruined, but the consolation? The first Nike waffle trainer was born.

Cage 91 Co. is powered by Taktika Equity

Moisture management

For Pulco, sweat and moisture is the problem they’re solving. When playing padel you sweat. A lot. In an intense game, after the first set your t-shirt will often be soaking wet. The clinging shirt around the belly and back, the wet hands that worsen your play, not to mention that you will stay hot under that wet shirt. This became, let’s call it, Middleton’s mission: the need to introduce a shirt for players that makes sweat and moisture a problem of the past.

To do this, he had to go to the one place on earth where sweat and moisture has successfully been solved: Italy.

Italian gear developers, known for their expertise in producing high-performance fabrics for the Tour de France riders, have mastered the creation of materials that wick away moisture, keeping athletes dry and comfortable. When you are on your bike for five to nine  hours per day, sweat is a very real and very big problem. Pulco is now using this advanced technology, ensuring padel players can perform at their best without being hindered by sweat-soaked clothing.

So, what became of the sewing mill company Middleton has dealings with in Italy? Mum’s the word, here – a secret it shall remain. What Middleton does disclose is that it is a small family that presides over a high-quality and low quantity business. Interestingly, many of the big sporting brands have tried to make a deal with this family business, but due to their need for mass production, no partnership has ever materialised. Step in Pulco.

What to expect from Pulco

With Pulco’s London launch party imminent this month, it’s important to note that Middleton and his band of brother are focussed on two things. Firstly, they are tapping into a new social trend. Secondly, and simultaneously, they are creating it. It is the perfect feedback loop: a new brand giving a new sport its new look with a distinct, new design.

At Cage we are expecting interesting collaboration to come out of Pulco and other brands in the sporting and padel sector. Yes, they are doing their own gear, with the AirCon shirt being its flagship product. But with Joe Middletons feel for the market, fashion and storytelling, we are anticipating many brands to jump on the opportunity to create something unique together with Pulco. 
In another article, we will dive deeper into the first Pulco collab: Pulco x Cimoro.