For those wondering whether Naomi Osaka, the Japanese tennis player known for her elaborate walk-on looks, was going to challenge Wimbledon’s dress code at this year’s Championships, the answer came within seconds of the former No 1 appearing on the grass on Monday.
For her first-round match against Elsa Jacquemot, Osaka made a nod to her heritage by arriving in an all-white look inspired by Japanese ceremonial dress.
Created by Hana Yagi, an independent Japanese designer, the look consisted of seven different textiles upcycled from pieces including vintage kimonos and a traditional shiromuku wedding dress. It featured intricate embroidered cranes and cherry blossoms alongside a traditional obi belt. Underneath, Osaka wore a white Nike performance dress that drew on Japanese kirigami paper-cutting with 3D floral motifs.
In an interview with British Vogue, Yagi said: “I wanted the garment to exist as the moment before performance. The walk-on surrounds Naomi in ceremony, while the Nike kit represents the athlete in competition. I thought about them as two chapters within the same story.”
Osaka completed her look with jewellery from Mikimoto, a Japanese jeweller known for its cultured pearls, and a traditional kanzashi hair ornament featuring white flowers.
Speaking on court after her 6-1 7-5 victory over France’s Jacquemot, Osaka said her look was inspired by the Quentin Tarantino film, Kill Bill.
“For me, my Japanese heritage means a lot. They say all white at Wimbledon and I thought it would be really cool to come out in a kimono,” she said. “I just get inspired by a lot of different things, and for me, one of my favourite movies is Kill Bill.
“So I really love Lucy Liu’s character, O-Ren Ishii, and she comes out in this really iconic white kimono. I always tell people I like to be like a video game character sometimes, I don’t want to be myself when I’m playing on the court. And I kind of try to embody her a little.”
The dress’s nine parts were detachable, meaning they could easily be shed in the one minute Osaka is given on court as well as be reused in a different way as Osaka and the tournament progresses.
Osaka regularly uses fashion to express her personality. In a pre-match interview with Vogue, she said: “I like to use fashion as a medium for storytelling. 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.”
For her opening match at the Australian Open in January, she wore a jellyfish-inspired dress complete with a veil and parasol by the Hong Kong-born, London-based designer Robert Wun.
At the French Open in May, she arrived on court wearing a black corset and trailing skirt made by the Central Saint Martins graduate Kevin Germanier using Osaka’s old Nike kits. She later removed it to reveal a gold glittery Nike dress that was said to be a reference to the Eiffel Tower. Over the years, there have also been luminous green sets complete with tulle and bows, crystal covered headphones and rhinestone encrusted Labubu mascots.
