The mockup on the kitchen table
It started with a bad hoodie.
Not dramatically bad. Just... not quite good enough. The kind of thing you buy because it exists, not because you actually want it. Generic fabric, generic fit, a padel racket logo slapped on the chest like an afterthought.
We’ been playing padel for a couple of years by then. The sport was growing fast — courts opening everywhere, clubs filling up, people genuinely obsessed. But the kit? It was tennis hand-me-downs or imported brands with no idea what a British padel club actually felt like.
So I did what anyone does when they can't find what they want. I made it myself.
The first version was a mockup. Literally — a print-on-demand website, a few minutes in a design tool, and a hoodie with AprèsPadel written on the chest and VAMOS on the back. It looked... decent. Not world class yet but okay enough to think there was something here.
I showed it to a couple of people. They quite liked it. That was enough to keep going.