Naomi Osaka debuted a Japanese-inspired outfit at Wimbledon in her latest grand slam fashion statement.
The 28-year-old’s on-court entrance has become part of the show, and Osaka turned to her heritage for her latest look.
She walked on to Court Three in an all-white kimono-style ceremonial dress decorated with embroidered cranes and cherry blossom.
She paired the outfit with a traditional kanzashi hair ornament featuring white flowers before removing both ahead of the start of her first-round clash with France’s Elsa Jacquemot to reveal a white Nike dress.
While much more conventional, the dress is inspired by kirigami, the Japanese art of paper cutting.
Osaka has worked with a range of fashion designers on her outfits, going for a jellyfish-modelled look at the Australian Open and a gold dress inspired by the Eiffel Tower at Roland Garros.
For Wimbledon, Osaka collaborated with Japanese designer Hana Yagi, posting a video accompanied by the caption: “Culture”.
Speaking to British Vogue, Osaka 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.
“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.”
