It was at the end of the 1940s that Fred Perry was approached by Tibby Wegner, a former Austrian footballer, with an idea for marketing a sweatband bearing the Fred Perry name. Fred had previously used gauze wrapped around his wrist to protect the racquet handle from perspiration. The original sweatband was made from bath towel material and ?weighed a ton?, according to Fred in his autobiography. The redesigned prototype, made in Leicester, was light, soft and pliable. From that moment they were in business. They marketed the sweatbands by giving them away to the top players at the best tournaments, persuading them to wear them on court; the players did, and Fred Perry Sportswear was launched

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