Naomi Osaka continued her trend of high-fashion walk-ons onto court as she arrived for her Wimbledon first-round match in an eye-catching outfit inspired by traditional Japanese dress.
The four-time grand slam champion, who is the 14th seed at Wimbledon, has become equally well-known for her love of fashion as her tennis in recent years and frequently collaborates with designers to create new looks.
Tokyo-based designer Hana Yagi took inspiration from Japanese ceremonial dresses, as well as kirigami, the art of paper cutting, to create the custom all-white outfit Osaka sported on Monday.
The gown, made of detachable layers, featured three-dimensional embroidery of cranes and cherry blossoms, and was completed by bell sleeves and an obi belt.
Yagi told Vogue: “The starting point was the idea of ‘Evolving Ceremony’. The garment is constructed from vintage shiromuku (traditional Japanese bridal garments), kimono and wedding dresses – ceremonial garments originally created to mark important moments in people’s lives.”
In order to comply with Wimbledon’s strict dress code the outfit and matching accessory – a traditional kanzashi hair ornament with white flowers -was all white, as was the more practical dress she wore underneath for the actual match, which was also adorned with floral appliqués. She also wore jewellery from Japanese brand Mikimoto.
She told Vogue that far from feeling restricted by the dress code, “I actually didn’t feel limited at all. Obviously, the outfit has to be white, but aside from that, you can play with a lot of different design elements. In some ways, not having to think about the colour allows you to highlight other cool features like fabrics and textures.”
She added: “Every walk-out is an opportunity to bring people into my creative world. The fact that people care about it and are excited to see what’s next is also pretty cool.”
The 28-year-old wore a gold, sparkly ensemble of overskirts mimicking the design of the Eiffel Tower for the French Open, where she reached the fourth round, while she wore a floaty, jellyfish-inspired outfit for the Australian Open earlier this year, complete with wide-brimmed hat, white veil and parasol.
She said at Roland-Garros: ”Sometimes people say athletes [are] in show business or entertainers or whatever. I feel like, for me, Grand Slam walk-ons are the only time that I possibly feel like I’m an entertainer.”
Her first-round opponent in Paris, Laura Siegemund, was less than impressed, telling TNT Sports: “I come here to play tennis, not to put on a fashion show.”
Osaka beat Frenchwoman Elsa Jacquemot 6-1 7-5 in her first-round match on Court 3 at SW19, and will play either Anastasia Gasanova or Emiliana Arango in the second round.
