Inside the Fashion Leaders Pádel Cup: A new format for fashion retail networking

There are plenty of ways to connect with the people shaping an industry. Conferences, roundtables, panels…the usual formats. But sometimes the best conversations happen when you step away from the agenda entirely.

That was the thinking behind the first-ever Fashion Leaders Pádel Cup, held on April 28th at Club Deportivo La Masó in Madrid. A move that was a bit of a bold for Nextail, but one we believed in from the start. Fashion retail is a people business, and the relationships that drive it deserve spaces that feel a little less like work and a more like life.

A community on and off the court

The event kicked off with pádel clinics for all levels, led by three exceptional coaches: Silvia Navarro and Lara Tena, both National Pádel coaches, World Padel Tour players, and multiple-time champions of Spain, and Jan Heere, whose 20+ years in senior retail roles at Zara and Marks & Spencer made him a natural fit for a court full of fashion executives. Whether attendees were seasoned players or picking up a racket for the first time, everyone got on the court, which set exactly the right tone for the day ahead.

From there, the tournament got underway at full energy. As the matches wound down and the evening set in, the networking took on a life of its own with the Champions League backdrop that (almost) everyone appreciated. That kind of unscripted energy is exactly what we were hoping to create.

Congratulations to the cup winners, David Ginestar Salvà and Paz Vega, who took home the trophy on the day.

A shared effort

Great fashion retail networking events like this don’t happen without the right partners. We’re grateful to IF returns for co-organizing alongside us, and to our sponsors: Globant, On4You, Bleckmann, Neoday, and Orisha Commerce for their support in making the day possible. Thanks also to Bonabola for the prizes, and to Kelly Hurd for capturing it all on camera and Fred Guerrier for catching the action on film.

What comes next

The Fashion Leaders Pádel Cup was designed to be more than a one-off. Our ambition is to build something that the retail community genuinely looks forward to: a recurring moment to reconnect, step away from the day-to-day, and meet the people driving this industry forward.

If you’d like to be participate in the #FLPC in the future, sign up for updates on the next edition.