At 8am on Sunday morning, on the final day of the Wimbledon Championships, a large van always pulls up at the gate on Somerset Road. A team of five women will emerge, rolling packed suitcases and wheeling empty clothes racks into the clubhouse within Centre Court, straight through to the women’s locker room.
Judy Murray called it an “Aladdin’s Cave” of riches. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova described it as “heaven”. It is only a player locker room, but on this day it gets transformed into the walk-in wardrobe of dreams, ahead of the traditional Champions’ Dinner at the Guildhall.
Stylist Elisabeth Piner, founder of Having A Ball Dress Hire, has spent the last 32 years setting up her very own “pop-up shop” in one of the most exclusive areas of the All England Club. Along with her two daughters who work for her, she fills it with around 150 designer gowns, including Jenny Packham and Vivienne Westwood, plus accessories and a line-up of stilettos in every size. A make-up artist and hair stylist set up their stations too, their tools laid out in front of the mirrors. In the men’s locker room next door, a rack of suits and tuxedos are on hand.
The first woman to walk through their doors each year is always the champion, newly crowned the previous afternoon.
From the bejewelled blush pink number Serena Williams wore to dance with Novak Djokovic in 2015, the satin yellow mini-dress a “shy” 17-year-old Maria Sharapova donned in 2004, and the green and white tulle gown accessorised with Gucci trainers by Elena Rybakina last year, Piner has been responsible for all of the champion looks.
Czech player Kvitova was 21-years-old when she got first-pick, and chose a royal blue silk gown. She was the surprise package in 2011, beating Maria Sharapova in the final, and admits having a team of stylists and make-up artists on hand to dress her was completely new territory.
“It’s heaven for the girl for sure,” Kvitova tells Telegraph Sport. “I’m not sure about my coaches, the men, if they liked it, but they didn’t have any choice! It’s a one life experience, it was a beautiful thing to do. Since then I’ve had many photoshoots and stuff, but this was very special, very unique here at Wimbledon.”
It was not always that way. Before Piner’s services were introduced at Wimbledon, Pam Shriver - who won five women’s doubles titles between 1981 and 1986 - says she often stuffed a dress at the bottom of her suitcase when packing for Wimbledon, confident of her chances with doubles partner Martina Navratilova. “I wear a size US 12 (UK 10) shoe, so that was always my problem,” Shriver adds. “I better have some appropriate shoes with me, otherwise I’m wearing my white grass court ones!”
In the 1990s Piner’s locker room wardrobe was still new and not as well established. 16-year-old Martina Hingis popped to Harrods for a dress when she won Wimbledon in 1997, while Spain’s Conchita Martinez - who won three years prior - remembers walking up the hill to Wimbledon Village and buying her black outfit in a local shop.
When she returned to the Champions’ Dinner in 2017 as the coach of that year’s winner Garbine Muguruza, she got the full treatment. “This time I picked a dress, had my hair and make up done - it was special,” Martinez says.
Now Piner’s services have become somewhat of an institution, and a highlight of the fortnight for champions and their guests. She can never predict who she will be dressing, with only the champions winning an invite to the dinner, but she does admit that during the Williams sisters’ pomp she would sometimes source dresses thinking “Venus or Serena would like this”.
She has to be ready for anyone, and Piner has been known to make alterations to size and hem length with moments to spare before guests need to leave for the dinner. She says some of her most memorable moments have been with the families of the game’s most prolific champions.
“The first year when Andy Murray won, his mum Judy came rushing to the changing room with a glass of champagne in her hand and she was just so excited,” Piner says. “We dressed her in a beautiful dress, and Andy’s grandmother [Eileen], she looked lovely.
“Mrs Williams, Serena and Venus’s mother, I always dressed her and the sisters. When we walked through the door some years, before setting up, she would be there and say, ‘Oh I’ve been waiting for you I’m so glad you’re here again’. Mrs Federer (Roger’s mother) came to us every year too. She said, ‘I wouldn’t go anywhere else, I would always come to you’, because she was superstitious. She said ‘It brings me good luck.’”
When Federer won his first title in 2003, his then-fiance Mirka was unsure which dress was best. “She actually phoned Roger,” Piner says. “He came down and waited outside the changing room, just to approve of the dress!”
Piner prides herself on always finding solutions for clients, such is the selection she gathers throughout the year especially for Wimbledon. There have even been times when they packed up shop for the night and a late-comer has rushed in at 10pm looking for a miracle. Piner always makes it happen. “It has been a challenge at times. When we get it right though and they’re happy, so am I.”
One of Ons Jabeur or Marketa Vondrousova will be her next client, and Piner is confident she will deliver again. “I’m ready, whoever it will be.”
The outfits of ladies champions down the years
By Sophie Tobin, Junior Fashion and Beauty Editor
In 2014, Petra Kvitova selected a two part dress with sheer panelling, sequin embellishment and a thigh high slit. Like most of Elisabeth Piner’s clients for the ball, Kvitova referenced classic Wimbledon white in her outfit, completing the look with gold accessories.
Garbine Muguruza won the Ladies Singles title in 2017 and looked elegant in a white gown by Alexander McQueen for the evening event.The delicate silver leaf embroidery was placed to make the dress ultra flattering and was complemented by metallic accessories.
Noughties fashion is back, and the dress Maria Sharapova chose to wear to the 2004 Wimbledon Ball would not look out of place on a red carpet today. The champagne shade of satin was an appropriate choice for the third-youngest winner of the championship, while the white underskirt appeared to be a nod to a classic tennis skirt.
Mirka Federer accompanied her then boyfriend Roger to the ball in 2003 in a crimson ball gown that sparkled with crystals. It incorporated timeless details like the a-line silhouette and square neckline. First-time champion Roger coordinated with a burgundy bow tie and cummerbund.
Going for gold, Serena Williams’ dress in 2012 underscored her champion status. Pairing the cocktail dress with a Burberry clutch bag, Elisabeth Piner chose to support a British brand on this international stage.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbHLnp6rmaCde6S7ja6iaKyVo7uqv45rZ2trX2WEcH2UaK6ipZKhsqW7zWZpaWpjYrCprcypoKimo2KxqrrNnqlmnpGotaq7zWg%3D