Sartorial Adventure

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‘I worked 20-hour days to make Naomi Osaka’s Wimbledon dress’

The Japanese designer Hana Yagi created the striking all-white bridal-inspired kimono that drew cheers from the crowd at the All England Club

The Japanese kimono and the traditional western wedding dress are difficult enough to walk in, let alone play tennis. But Naomi Osaka did so anyway, emerging on to Wimbledon’s Court 3 in a gown that was a hybrid of both garments to play a round of practice shots.

The dress, which drew cheers and wolf whistles from the crowd, was the Japanese player’s latest fashion display, following the gold sequinned outfit that she wore at the French Open and her extravagant turquoise and green dress at the Australian Open in January. Her Wimbledon effort was the work of Hana Yagi, a 26-year old Japanese designer, who created it alone in ten days in her studio in Tokyo.

2026 French open, designed by Kevin Germanier in collaboration with Nike:

Yagi was asked to create an outfit for the “walk on”, when players enter the court before the beginning of a match, a well-established opportunity for fashion statements. At the French Open, Osaka compared her sparkling dress to the illuminations of the Eiffel Tower. Her extraordinary Australian Open outfit was inspired by jellyfish.

Australian Open 2026, designed by Robert Wun for Nike:

But Wimbledon imposes strict rules — above all that all clothes must be completely white (Roger Federer once got a telling-off for wearing shoes with orange soles). “First, it had to be all white,” says Yagi. “Visually, [Harper] gave me the image of a kimono or junihitoe [a traditional 12-layered kimono of the Japanese imperial court]. As a part of the concept, they wanted to reinterpret the tradition in the context of sport.”

The vintage wedding dresses she had in her own stock were cream and ivory — shades unacceptable at Wimbledon. She went to shops in Tokyo and bought the pure white western style wedding dress that forms the lower part of the Osaka gown, and a shiromuku, the traditional nuptial kimono in which brides are wrapped for delivery to their new husbands.

It is this, embroidered with brocade images of cranes and cherry blossoms, that forms the upper part of the dress, but drastically restructured to allow freedom of movement. “I didn’t want her to walk with small steps — in this she won’t have any difficulty walking,” Yagi says. “And it’s not like a tight corset, but a dress that Naomi herself can adjust.” Osaka wore her playing dress, created by her sponsor Nike, below Yagi’s creation, so it had to be lighter than a conventional kimono. The other condition was that the player had to be able to put on and remove the dress quickly.

“It was my first experience of that, because all my past works were art pieces, and not really aiming to be functional,” she says. “But this has to come on and off in three minutes. I kept it putting it on myself over and over again to confirm that it worked.” The secret ingredient? Extensive strips of Velcro.

Some more of Naomi Osaka's show-stoppers:

US Open 2024. Designed by Yoon Ahn for Nike:

US Open 2025. Designed by Osaka herself:

Roman ring, made from gold and aquamarine depicting a woman riding on a hippocamp

1st century AD

Antique Victorian Vulcanite Eagle Mourning Brooch Pin

Symbolism:

Garland - representing the triumph of the soul over death and the realization of eternal life.

Grapevines for mourning are deeply rooted in history and symbolism, with vines and leaves frequently found in historical cemetery monuments and Victorian-era mourning jewelry. They symbolize rebirth, the triumph over death, and the joys of the afterlife, as well as the blood of Christ in Christian tradition.

Eagle – Representing courage and possibly a military career.

Rose – Representing love, beauty, hope and goodness and associated with the Virgin Mary and the ‘rose without thorns.’ A red rose stands for martyrdom and a white rose means purity.

Forget-me-nots - Representing enduring remembrance, true love, and faithfulness. It served as a comforting promise that the emotional bond with the deceased remained unbroken, transcending death and keeping the memory of the loved one alive.

Dress

c. 1890

Fobs

18th century gentlemen wore watch chains attached their timepieces because they helped make it easy to check the time without having to root inelegantly in a tiny pocket. Watch chains were long enough to show from under the waistcoat.

Today, we call these kinds of chains fobs. However, the word “fob” originally referred not to the chain itself, but to the small pocket in which valuables, like a watch, were kept. Breeches in the 18th and early 19th century had wide waistbands with small pockets fitted into them, a tradition continued by many modern pairs of jeans:

So in the 18th century, the fob was the pocket and the watch chain was what you attached your watch to. However, many museums, especially American museums, label them (and even some equipages/chatelaines) as fobs. The confusion may stem from the fact that many earlier 18th century men’s watch chains are not chains at all, but watch strings made of ribbons, tassels and other passementerie.

@magictrapeze I looked this up, and here's what I found:

The word "fob" originally comes from the German word fuppe or fobke, meaning "small pocket." It originally referred to the specific, small concealed pocket in a man's waistcoat used to hold a pocket watch.

Then, because of how the watch was worn, "fob" came to mean the short chain, leather strap, or ribbon used to attach the watch to the waistband or vest pocket. This allowed the wearer to easily pull the watch out.

Over time, people began hanging decorative ornaments, wax seals, or medallions from the end of the strap or chain. These dangling charms also became known as "fobs".