We are very excited to announce that we have started a company. More than that, we think we might be at the baby butterfly wing flaps of a movement. A movement to expand women’s choices in tennis attire; create a more vibrant conversation in the tennis community; and engage more young people in the magnificent sport of TENNIS!

A few years ago, Jessica marveled at the fact that women who preferred to play tennis in shorts were forced to do so in togs with low function and style. Where to store balls? How to showcase personal flair?! Market research showed that no company was working to meet this demand. Even more remarkably, history shows that women’s tennis attire started – and ended – with the skirt (with only hemlines changing over time). At the same time, Knox, an avid runner, saw exciting and meaningful improvement in women’s running attire, with the advent of clothing and communities to support female runners’ needs. This sparked our work to help revolutionize women’s tennis.

Today we are introducing VIOLET COURTWEAR – our venture that seeks not only to update women’s dress and performance on the tennis court with the introduction of stylish, well-designed, and fun tennis shorts, but to empower, connect, and add joy to the lives of women who love tennis as much as we do. A movement that underscores equality, conviviality, and community.

Violets are not only beautiful flowers, but are also strong, hardy, and resilient rugged survivors! Violet Courtwear comes into existence through the persistent vision of its founders who have goals beyond establishing an innovative and successful tennis line:

• Community: We will work to create an interactive online community for our tennis sisters to come together. We are rolling out local groups within Facebook and will be inviting your active participation in bringing these communities to life. There are vibrant online communities analogous to these in the running world and beyond, but none that we can identify for the tennis world. Let’s create this space for ourselves!
• Giving back: To be part of a community is to also give back to the community. We aspire, from day one, to be active and engaged philanthropic members of our communities. Participation in tennis is growing and we want *everyone* to be a part of this great game. We particularly want to help enable young players from challenging circumstances to meet their potential. As we start up we are pledging a minimum of 3% of our gross revenue to charitable endeavors and most immediately will sponsor the Forgirlssake Tennis Open in the fall and partner with the Tennis Alliance of Anne Arundel County in support of a new Maryland tennis complex.
• Personal growth: The work of starting a company has been fascinating and invigorating! We have grown through mistakes and have embraced success. It has also been amazing to bring our children along with us on this path. We think that they see us with new eyes.

Today, we are excited to offer t-shirts www.violetcourtwear.com/shop emblazoned with our logo and hashtag: #iwearviolet — we welcome you to be a founding member of our movement! Within a few weeks, our initial collection of shorts will be available and we cannot wait to share them with you.

Who is Violet? Well, we can all be Violet. Strong, stylish, passionate, compassionate women making a difference both on and off the tennis courts. We look forward to building this community together. #iwearviolet

Sincerely,
Jessica Dumphy + Knox Bricken Flynt
Founders
Violet Courtwear
violetcourtwear.com