Osaka wows Wimbledon in kimono-inspired dress

Japan’s Naomi Osaka made a striking entrance at Wimbledon on Monday, arriving on court in a kimono-inspired dress before her first-round match against France’s Elsa Jacquemot.
Known for her bold pre-match fashion choices, the four-time Grand Slam champion drew crowds of fans and photographers around Court Three as she unveiled the all-white look, designed to comply with the All England Club’s strict dress code.
The 28-year-old wore a ceremonial kimono-style outer garment decorated with embroidered cranes and cherry blossom, paired with a traditional kanzashi hair ornament featuring white flowers. She later removed the pieces to reveal a white Nike tennis dress inspired by kirigami, the Japanese art of paper cutting.
Osaka collaborated with Japanese designer Hana Yagi on the Wimbledon outfit, sharing a video of the look on social media with the caption: “Culture”.
Her Wimbledon appearance follows similarly theatrical fashion statements at other Grand Slams this year, including a jellyfish-inspired Australian Open look dedicated to her daughter Shai and a gold French Open dress influenced by the Eiffel Tower.
Speaking to British Vogue, Osaka said she sees fashion as a form of storytelling.
“I like to use fashion as a medium for storytelling”, she said. “Every walk-out is an opportunity to bring people into my creative world”.
Osaka’s longtime creative director, Marty Harper, said the design was shaped by Wimbledon’s distinctive sense of tradition and ceremony.
“The starting point was the idea of evolving ceremony”, Harper said. The garment was constructed using vintage shiromuku, traditional Japanese ceremonial garments created to mark important moments in people’s lives. — AFP