The same question about fashion is asked at every Wimbledon: what can you say to white people?
For tennis legend Naomi Osaka, whose look has become one of the most anticipated style rituals in the sport, the challenge wasn’t how to make white stand out, but how to make it tell a story.
Working with Tokyo designer Hana Yagi, Osaka will take to the court at the All England Club today wearing a special white creation inspired by Japanese ceremonial dress. Embroidered cranes stretch across the fabric. Cherry blossoms rise along its surface. A dramatic stretch bow flows behind her, giving the silhouette an almost weightless appearance before its layers peel away to reveal the Nike shape underneath. Finished with traditional kanzashi hair accessory and Mikimoto jewelry, the ensemble turns the walk from the locker room to the court into its own fleeting performance.
Sebastian Arriagada
Sebastian Arriagada
“I like to use fashion as a medium to tell stories,” Osaka tells the British. Fashion her exquisite exits. “Every outlet is an opportunity to bring people into my creative world. The fact that people care about it and are looking forward to what’s next is really cool too.”
Wimbledon is in many ways a tournament built on ritual, from the all-white dress code to the iconic walk onto Center Court. For Marty Harper, Osaka’s longtime creative director, these traditions served as the conceptual basis for this year’s look.
“It’s one of the few places in sports where the ceremony still feels inseparable from the competition,” he says. “We wanted to acknowledge this by creating a dialogue with Japanese ceremonial clothing.”
Adam Kudeimati