“Others might never know what they could get away with, but he did, and he did get away with it.�
In 1973 the Americans were on the rise. It would soon be the era of Connors and McEnroe, rebels who dominated tennis.
IT WAS IN 1973 that Bill St. John, the idiosyncratic pro at the Field Club in Greenwich, CT, created a tennis apparel company as irreverent as his idols.
THE BOAST HISTORY Boast was conceived as an American outfitting company that could challenge European mainstays. Bill, a former All American squash player at Cornell, started Boast with a couple of college friends, driving from club to club selling shirts and shorts from his station wagon. This was personal. Bill wore these clothes every day on the court, and his Greenwich apartment served as company headquarters.
BILL WAS A MAN OF HIS TIME: he road-tripped to concerts and spent time afterwards with the bands. He was a singular figure— he even had a cocktail named after him: The St. John Punch. But Bill and his partners were also topflight players and dedicated sportsmen, competitive at the highest levels of tennis and squash. They even built a squash court attached to their warehouse, where they had a distinct home court advantage—they could judge the bounce of the ball by the sound it made.
The company quickly grew; within a few years Boast was a fixture on players at the best clubs in the country.
Boast defineD THE club member who enjoyED BEING subversive
Boast could be found on courts from the Ivy League to the Pro Circuit. Worn by squash teams, like Yale, Harvard, and Princeton—
and by pros like golf giant Greg Norman, and the notorious Roscoe Tanner.
THE ERA
The 1970s were a time of individuality and rebellion: CBGB, Basquiat, Dennis Hopper and LOU REED. Bill understood that Boast didn’t exist in a vacuum, and that sport was an integral part of culture. McEnroe taught the artist Eric Fischl tennis in exchange for painting lessons. Andy Warhol attended the US Open with Jackie O. Boast was founded a year before the Mudd Club opened its doors in New York. Culture was converging—you could come across anybody from the Talking Heads to Keith Haring to Allen Ginsberg. John McEnroe also patronized the Mudd Club. He crashed a Playboy columnist’s birthday party there.
In tennis, the Americans played the gentleman’s game on their own terms. They weren’t beholden to tradition, and neither was Boast. The company’s logo, the Japanese maple leaf, reminds some of cannabis. One school board tried to have the brand banned.
Most simply saw it as a discreet symbol of irreverence.
“There’s no uniform in tennis — when you walk on a court you don’t lose your personality, you express it”. - Bill St. John
Tennis attracts iconoclasts, whether real, like McEnroe, or fictional, like Richie Tenenbaum and Annie Hall. Salinger’s characters played tennis before taking a cab back to the Upper East Side.
THE BOAST POLO The polo shirt is an indisputable menswear icon. Created in 1926 in France, the polo became the uniform of tennis players and golfers, of private schools and preppies. Over the years it’s been co-opted, reimagined, rebranded and revised. And yet it endures. As Americans began to exert their excellence on the tennis court Bill felt it was time to challenge European brands at their own game. He wanted a polo shirt with an individual streak, a shirt for iconoclasts. Boast is at home in the establishment but not beholden to it. Since its founding, Boast has fit in anywhere from country club to night club. Bill knew that where there are sporting men there are polo shirts.
the CUrrent marketplace: an american comeback The past few years in fashion and culture have seen a huge resurgence of classic Americana and Preppy.
Consumers realize that classic, well-made and purposeful items with a history are something they can always count on. Products that have been around for decades such as Filson bags, Levi’s 501s and Converse Jack Purcells have seen a renewed popularity while forgotten brands like Gitman Brothers and Pendleton have been resurrected with great success. These brands are authentic and have a story behind them. Even newly established brands are utilizing the values and timeless sensibilities that characterize American style.
THE BOAST AUDIENCE Boast is true to its roots as a sporting outfitter—but it exists in the culture at large. The man who wears Boast is comfortable on the court and at a concert, discussing the game or discussing who’s showing at the gallery. This man knows the rules well enough to know when to break them. He may have grown up playing tennis at the club. But he’s not defined by his status as an athlete— sport is part of his well-led life, but not the only part. What he wears on the court reflects that— he values his individuality and wants to express it.
He appreciates the low-key humor of the logo. He has an affinity with American brands and good straightforward design. He’s comfortable enough with the preppy idiom that he can celebrate it or subvert it.
OUR CORE TARGETS
COLLEGE/RECENT GRAD EARLY 20’S
College students and recent graduates who follow men’s style websites like A Continuous Lean. They like Steven Alan and Polo Rugby. They listen to Vampire Weekend and Local Natives, bands who also wear preppy clothes on their own terms. He’s interested in sport but he may never wear the clothes on the court—he likes putting them in a new context. He relates to the Japanese maple leaf, which symbolizes the “upscale slacker.”
THE SPORTING MAN LATE 20’S /EARLY 30’S
He shares similarities with the younger men. He’s design savvy and relates to the history of the brand as he values the sporting life as much as fashion. He follows men’s style websites (ACL, Jjjjound), men’s magazines (GQ, Monocle), American brands with classic design (Jack Spade, J.Crew Liquor Store, Band of Outsiders). He likes the feeling that he’s discovered Boast. He’s partial to preppy clothes and unafraid to subvert their intent.
the original audience LATE 30’S / early 40’s
He reads the New Yorker, the New York Observer. He appreciates George Plimpton, a writer at home at a country club or a night club. Not just another dad at Whole Foods, he’s still devoted to downtown music like Talking Heads, Beck, and Pavement. He likes his history with Boast, but also its versatility. Boast allows him to maintain a connection to the heroes of his youth. He may be a member of a racquet club where the logo would be more of an inside joke. He prides himself on his individuality—he doesn’t want to wear the same thing on court as his accountant.
we believe in The Sporting Life
When Bill was on the road he would play with a fellow pro at the end of the day then go to the local steak house. Bill believed in athletic excellence, but also in the broader view. Boast began when athletes were defined by temperament, not technology. After a match you wouldn’t hit the weight room, you would drink a beer. You’re good enough at the sport to have earned some perspective: there’s a reason it’s called a game.
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