Tennis fans gasped when Naomi Osaka strolled onto the court at the U.S. Open wearing haute couture tennis fashion.
On August 27, the Haitian-Japanese star wore a green and white outfit complete with bows, ruffles, bodysuit and a tutu designed by Nike X Yoon Ahn.
Then on Thursday, Aug. 29, she wore the outfit in black & white colorway.
The bow motif was repeated on her tennis shoes which featured small bows on the back of each sneaker.
“I definitely love to be involved in everything I do, whether it’s fashion or anything else,” Naomi said after she won the match on August 27. “But I feel like being able to be a part of my tennis outfits gives me, I would say, a different strength.”
Naomi is grateful to be a pioneer in leading women’s tennis fashion to a new frontier.
But she admits she was a little embarrassed by the flamboyant outfits.
“Especially the U.S. Open outfits, I feel like they are a little bit flamboyant,” she told the media. “When I was putting on my outfit today, I was, like, ah, I hope this isn’t too much.”
“Because I had the tutu and then I had the bow jacket and it was green, I feel like everyone was staring at me funny,” said the 26-year-old single mom.
“And then I put the headphones on, that was a real killer. I was, like, you know what, embrace this maximalist style, I think for me, when I put on the outfit it’s almost like a super suit, so I try to channel that.”