Daniel-Yaw Miller, fashion & sports journalist and founder of SportsVerse.

Padel is more than a game - it’s shaping culture, style and the way we think about sportswear.

For Padel Social Club Fashion Month, we sat down with Daniel-Yaw Miller to take a closer look at how this fast-growing sport is defining new fashion trends, inspiring brand collaborations, and creating opportunities at the intersection of sport, lifestyle and culture in 2026.

Daniel-Yaw Miller is an award-winning journalist, editor and advisor at the intersection of fashion, sport and culture. He’s the founder of SportsVerse and formerly launched The Business of Fashion’s first sports vertical - with his insights regularly featured across global media including The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC and Vogue Business.

In recent years, sportswear has evolved from something purely functional into a powerful cultural and lifestyle statement. What do you think has driven that shift?

Sportswear has always been adopted by the Culture in fascinating ways. Run DMC wore Adidas Superstars organically back in the 1980s, Bob Marley always used to wear Adidas sneakers like the Samba and Copa Mundial football boots. In the 80s and 90s Nike and Michael Jordan turned the Jordan brand into a cultural juggernaut, all from the appeal of sports and sportswear. Now, this appreciation of sportswear is in the mainstream, thanks to fashion’s ever-growing fixation on sport as a cultural force. 

Can you point to a recent brand collaboration, movement, or cultural moment that really accelerated this change in how sportswear is perceived?

I think there are so many big examples out there now, it’s hard to pick. NikeSKIMS has to be the biggest indication yet of how significant and valuable sportswear has become as a category, both culturally and commercially. The presence of luxury brands in sports is also significant. I think Miu Miu’s partnership with New Balance and Coco Gauff is such a good example of that.

Why do you think padel is uniquely positioned at the intersection of sport, fashion, and culture?

Padel is in a sweet spot. Racket sports are highly aspirational and that is one trait that fashion and sportswear brands crave when looking to build compelling products or marketing moments. On top of that, the look and feel of padel, the fast pace, the glass walls, all make for alluring surroundings. 

Was the future of padel fashion ever on your radar during your time at BoF, or now at Sportsverse, or is this a newer cultural shift you’re starting to see emerge?

Definitely. I was actually introduced to padel (and played my first ever game at Padel Social Club) by Joe Middleton, founder of Pulco Studios. At the time, back when I was at BoF, I had noticed how luxury brands like Prada and Valentino were increasingly realising the appeal of padel from a luxury and sportswear perspective, and I wrote a deep dive feature on it. Since then, I have covered the sport and its relationship with fashion several times, most recently analysing Arturo Coello’s deals with On and Rolex.

Long-established sports have had time to develop distinct, recognisable style identities, basketball’s deep roots in hip-hop culture, for example, versus tennis’s country-club heritage. As a newer sport, where do you see padel’s fashion identity heading?

I think that’s the beauty of the padel opportunity for fashion and sportswear brands. Though the sport has been around for a very long time, its moment in the mainstream is a far more recent phenomenon. Padel is played by so many different types of people in so many different communities and geographic locations. I think padel’s fashion identity will remain rooted in performance, but with an elevated tilt that nods to the relaxed country club appeal of the sport, blended with its newer, inner-city feel.

You’re known for your trend forecasting - what do you see shaping padel fashion in 2026?

2026 got off to a good start for padel with world no.1 Arturo Coello picking up those major deals with On and Rolex. I think these deals will open the floodgates for similar brands to begin identifying athletes who are set to define this next generation of padel, and looking to sign them on endorsement contracts.

Are there specific cultural spaces you think padel will start pulling influence from ie streetwear, luxury, wellness, nightlife, music, digital culture?

I’ve seen padel brands and leagues pull inspiration from all of the above so far, whether that’s during tournaments or product launches. The sport’s audience is so diverse, and the “look and feel” of padel is still very malleable, given how new it is in mainstream consciousness. 

Which types of brands do you think should already be paying attention to padel - and which ones would be missing a major opportunity by ignoring it?

Padel offers big opportunities to all kinds of brands looking for a high-end alignment with the sporting world, whether that’s sportswear businesses or luxury labels. 

Do you see padel becoming more of a performance category, a lifestyle category, or a hybrid of both from a brand strategy perspective?

I think it’s harder to break out padel as a performance category of its own, given how similar the requirements for clothing and footwear are to tennis, for the majority of people playing the sport. This doesn’t mean there isn’t space for exciting upstart padel-specific performance brands like Pulco, though. I just think that lifestyle brands that lean into an association with the game of padel are more likely to achieve cut through. 

Looking ahead, where do you see the “sport meets fashion” conversation heading over the next five years - and what role do emerging sports like padel play in shaping that future?

I think the sports-fashion intersection will only grow more intertwined in the next few years, given how much capital fashion companies are investing into sports partnerships, and key tentpole events on the horizon like LA 28. Sports like padel are in the enviable position of being new enough to still freely innovate, to push for change and to do things a little differently to the status quo. That applies with its approach to sportswear, to merch and to new brands in its ecosystem.