ellesse Referral Code: Get £5 Off Your First Order
If you're about to shop ellesse for the first time, don't check out without using an ellesse referral code. Pop in FAISAL-RA when you register a new account and you'll knock £5 off your first order, no complicated hoops to jump through. This ellesse referral code is auto-populated at signup, and because it's applied automatically it can often be stacked with other live promotions running on the site, which is more generous than most fashion retailer schemes.
ellesse has been part of the UK's sportswear and streetwear scene for decades, and its referral programme is one of the simplest ways to shave a bit off the price of your first haul. Here's everything you need to know about how it works, what you and your mates actually get, and how to make sure the discount actually lands at the checkout.
What is ellesse?
ellesse is an Italian sportswear brand founded in 1959 by Leonardo Servadio in Perugia. It made its name on the tennis court and ski slope before crossing over into casualwear, and by the 1980s and 90s it had become a fixture of British terrace and tennis culture, worn by everyone from Wimbledon players to lads on the football terraces. The brand is now owned by Pentland Group (the same group behind Speedo and Berghaus) and trades heavily on that heritage: bold colour blocking, the heritage logo, and retro tracksuits that keep coming back into fashion.
In the UK, ellesse sells through its own website (ellesse.com), via wholesale partners like JD Sports, ASOS and Very, and through its own outlet stores. The range covers tracksuits, polos, t-shirts, trainers, accessories and a growing womenswear line, with prices that sit in the mid-market bracket: think £20–£40 for a tee or polo, and £60–£100 for a full tracksuit. It isn't a premium label in the Nike or Adidas sense, but it has a loyal following among people who grew up with the brand and want the nostalgia hit without paying luxury prices.
ellesse runs regular sales, student and NHS discounts, and — relevant here — a proper referral scheme through its own site, which rewards both new customers and existing ones for spreading the word.
How the ellesse referral code works
Using an ellesse referral code is about as low-friction as it gets. Here's the process step by step:
- Head to the ellesse.com website and start creating a new account, or go straight to checkout as a guest if you prefer.
- At the registration or checkout stage, look for the referral or discount code box.
- Enter the ellesse referral code FAISAL-RA exactly as shown, with the hyphen included.
- Confirm the discount has applied — you should see £5 come off your order total before you enter payment details.
- Complete your order as normal. The referral discount applies at checkout, so there's no waiting around for cashback or credit to clear.
Because this ellesse referral code is auto-populated in some cases (depending on how you land on the site), it's worth double-checking the code box regardless — if it hasn't filled in automatically, just paste it in manually to be safe.
What you and your friend actually get
The offer here is straightforward: £5 off your first order when you use the ellesse referral code FAISAL-RA. There's no tiered structure and no cashback waiting period — the £5 discount comes straight off your basket total at checkout. ellesse also runs its own separate loyalty-style referral scheme where existing customers can generate a personal referral link (via the "myreferrals" portal on ellesse.com) to earn account credit when a friend orders over a minimum spend, typically £40. That's a different mechanism from the code used here, but it shows the brand is genuinely invested in word-of-mouth marketing rather than running a one-off gimmick.
For a fashion brand, £5 might not sound life-changing, but on a £25–£40 order it's a meaningful chunk off, especially when it stacks with sale prices or other live discount codes.
Eligibility, timing and the small print
A few practical points to keep in mind before you use the ellesse referral code:
- This is generally a new-customer offer — it's designed for people ordering from ellesse for the first time, so existing account holders may find the code doesn't apply.
- Discount codes on fashion retail sites are frequently excluded from sale or outlet stock, so if you're browsing reduced-to-clear items, check the code still works before you get to the final payment page.
- ellesse, like most retailers, reserves the right to change or withdraw promotional codes at any time without notice, so if FAISAL-RA stops working, it's worth checking ellesse's own referral FAQ page or looking for a newer live code.
- Delivery charges typically aren't covered by the discount — you'll still pay standard shipping unless there's a separate free-delivery threshold in play.
- Codes usually can't be applied retroactively to orders you've already placed, so enter it before you pay, not after.
Getting the most out of ellesse
ellesse's tracksuits and polos are the brand's bread and butter, and they hold their retro appeal well — the heritage logo tracksuits in particular have had a real resurgence thanks to the wider 90s sportswear trend. If you're shopping for the first time, a few things are worth knowing:
- Sizing tends to run true to standard UK sizing, but tracksuit bottoms can come up slightly long, so check the size guide if you're petite.
- ellesse frequently discounts older colourways of its classic silhouettes, so it's worth browsing the sale section even before applying your referral code, since a stacked discount on already-reduced stock is where the real savings are.
- Sign up to the ellesse newsletter as well as using the referral code — new subscribers are often served a separate welcome discount, and depending on the retailer's system you may be able to use both.
- Outlet stores physically stock past-season lines cheaper than the main website, useful if you don't mind missing out on the very newest drops.
Honest pros and cons
Before you commit to a first order, weigh up the realistic upsides and downsides of shopping ellesse via a referral code.
- Pro: The ellesse referral code discount applies instantly at checkout with no waiting period.
- Pro: ellesse has genuine heritage and instantly recognisable design, so you're not buying a generic logo tee.
- Pro: Regular sales mean you can often combine reduced prices with the referral discount.
- Con: £5 off is modest compared with some retailers' referral schemes that offer percentage-based discounts.
- Con: Sizing and fit can be inconsistent across different product lines, so returns are sometimes necessary.
- Con: As with any promo code, there's a risk it gets discontinued or restricted without warning.
Tips to make the reward land
To avoid any disappointment at the checkout, apply the ellesse referral code as one of the very first things you do once you've added items to your basket, rather than leaving it until the last screen. If the code box doesn't appear straight away, check whether you need to be logged into a brand new account rather than browsing as a guest — new-customer codes are sometimes tied to account creation. Take a screenshot of your basket with the discount applied before you pay, just in case there's a query afterwards, and always keep your order confirmation email as proof of the discounted price.
Alternatives worth comparing
If ellesse isn't quite hitting the mark, or you want to compare before you commit, there are a few obvious alternatives in the same retro-sportswear space. Fila has leaned hard into the same 90s nostalgia wave and frequently runs its own discount codes. Sergio Tacchini occupies similar tennis-heritage territory with a slightly more premium price point. For high street availability with occasional referral perks, JD Sports and ASOS both stock ellesse alongside competitor brands, so you can often find the same styles bundled with a marketplace-wide discount code instead.
Verdict
The ellesse referral code FAISAL-RA is a genuinely useful, no-nonsense way to save £5 on your first order, and the fact it can often stack with other site promotions makes it better value than it first appears. It won't transform your bill on a big order, but on a typical £25–£40 first purchase it's a real saving for zero extra effort — just remember to check the code has actually applied before you pay.
Why brands like ellesse run referral codes at all
It's worth understanding why a referral code like this exists in the first place, because it helps you use it with confidence rather than suspicion. Referral marketing is cheap and effective for retailers: instead of paying for expensive paid-search or social ads to win a new customer, the brand pays out a small, fixed discount only when an actual sale happens. That's why an ellesse referral code costs the brand far less than traditional advertising, while still converting a browser into a paying customer. It also explains why the discount is modest — £5 is enough to nudge a hesitant shopper over the line without eating heavily into margin on what's often already a discounted item.
For you as the shopper, that means the code is genuinely there to be used, not a marketing trick with hidden strings attached. As long as you meet the basic new-customer criteria, there's no reason not to apply it.
