Naomi Osaka was back to her old tricks again with another flamboyant walk-on outfit at Wimbledon.
The Japanese has made it a ritual of hers to arrive on court with a particularly striking outfit, and she repeated her French Open feat, after she arrived on Court Suzanne-Lenglen ahead of her first round in a black corset and matching skirt.
Underneath, she wore a glittering gold piece that she claimed looked like the “Eiffel Tower at night time when it's bright”.
The former World No1 had worn an ‘jellyfish-inspired’ outfit at the Australian Open, dedicated to her two-year-old daughter Shai, who she had with American rapper Cordae.
The four-time major champion said that “Nike let me design this one” as she arrived on court at Melbourne Park with a sunhat and veil over her face, accompanied by a white umbrella.
Her blue dress had turquoise ribbons tufting off it, to give the jellyfish-like impression.
Now, ahead of her first-round encounter with Elsa Jacquemot on Court No3 at Wimbledon, she dazzled spectators once more, with a flowing white dress to match the All England Club’s strict all-white dress code.
The dress, kimono-inspired, had underneath it a layered skirt and open sleeves with dove wing decoration to go with her chunky obi belt.
Osaka’s walk-on outfits have become such a phenomenon that All England Club chief Sally Bolton was asked whether the Japanese 14th seed would be allowed to step onto court in one for this summer’s Championships.
“We’re very relaxed, so long as it meets the all-white dress code,” Bolton told reporters on Monday.
“I haven’t had any conversations with her about what she wears, but as for any of our athletes coming onto court, all they have to do is follow the all-white dress code. We haven’t got any concerns that that will be an issue.”
Osaka’s longtime creative director, Marty Harper, says Wimbledon’s traditions were key to the concept.
“It’s one of the few places in sport where ceremony still feels inseparable from competition,” he says. “We wanted to acknowledge that while creating a dialogue with Japanese ceremonial dress.
“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.”
“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.”
