Naomi Osaka doesn’t play when it comes to fashion

When Naomi Osaka walks onto a tennis court, the moment is never incidental. It is composed, considered, and, more often than not, quietly radical. Yesterday, at her first-round match in the Australian Open, Osaka’s walk-on look did not merely announce her return to Melbourne; it reframed what tennis fashion can be when couture, creativity, and authorship converge.

The jellyfish-inspired ensemble, created in collaboration with Robert Wun and Nike, floated somewhere between fantasy and intention. A wide-brimmed white hat crowned with a sheer veil, a parasol adorned with butterflies, fluid layers of turquoise and green, and pleated trousers worn beneath a skirt that moved like water. The references were marine, exoskeletal, and ethereal– but the message was grounded. This was not a costume. It was storytelling. Osaka has long used fashion as a language, but this felt like a new dialect. The inspiration began in a moment of domestic intimacy: reading a storybook to her two-year-old daughter, Shai, and watching her delight at a jellyfish image. Soft yet powerful, luminous yet armed with a sting, the creature became a metaphor– one that mirrors Osaka’s own evolution as an athlete, a mother, and a woman reclaiming authorship over her narrative.

This sense of intention is not new. Over the years, Osaka has steadily built one of the most distinctive fashion archives in modern sport. At the US Open last year, she transformed match walk-ons into moments of playful rebellion with crystal-encrusted Labubu dolls clipped to her kits– each one named, styled, and instantly collectible. In New York again, she leaned into romance and drama with oversized bows, jewel embellishments, and hair accessories that bordered on couture headpieces. At Roland Garros, she channelled Sakura season with a petal-pink ensemble that nodded to her Japanese heritage. At the same time, even Wimbledon’s rigid all-white code couldn’t dull her fashion instinct– offset with sculptural silhouettes and fine jewellery that felt more Place Vendôme than Centre Court.

What elevates the Australian Open look beyond spectacle is its emotional intelligence. Tennis has no shortage of iconic kits– Serena Williams’ catsuits, Venus Williams’ fearless silhouettes, Maria Sharapova’s Swarovski-studded night dresses– but Osaka’s approach feels distinctly contemporary. Where earlier moments sought provocation, Osaka leans into symbolism. Her fashion choices do not shout; they resonate. The butterflies resting atop her hat and parasol carried their own history. They referenced the now-mythic Australian Open 2021 moment when a butterfly landed on her face mid-match; an image of stillness, grace, and gentleness under pressure that travelled far beyond sport. Fashion, in Osaka’s world, has memory.

In Melbourne, wrapped in veils and symbolism, Osaka delivered more than a fashion moment. She offered a meditation on transformation, softness as strength, and the power of writing your own story– on court and beyond it. Like the jellyfish she chose as her muse, she moved with grace, glow, and a quiet, unmistakable sting.

All images: Getty

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