Naomi Osaka walked onto Court 3 at Wimbledon on June 29 wearing a floor-length, all-white gown inspired by a traditional Japanese kimono [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The gown was designed by Tokyo-based independent designer Hana Yagi, featuring embroidered cranes and cherry blossoms. It was made from seven textiles upcycled from vintage kimonos and traditional garments, including a white shiromuku wedding dress [2, 4, 5, 6, 7].

Osaka complemented the look with a traditional kanzashi hair ornament adorned with white flowers during her entrance ceremony [2, 3, 4, 5]. After the walk-on, she quickly removed the detachable kimono gown — designed to be lightweight and easy to remove — revealing a white Nike tennis dress underneath. The Nike dress was inspired by Japanese kirigami paper-cutting, decorated with 3D floral motifs [2, 4, 5, 8, 9].

Osaka said the outfit drew partly from Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 film Kill Bill, specifically the all-white kimono worn by Lucy Liu’s character O-Ren Ishii. "I was thinking about my favourite movies. I love 'Kill Bill' and then I remembered absolutely falling in love with Lucy Liu's character... It was my interpretation of that and also my respect and love for Japan," Osaka said [1, 2].

The all-white ensemble complied with Wimbledon’s strict dress code and faced no objection from tournament officials. AELTC CEO Sally Bolton said, "We’re very relaxed so long as it meets the all-white dress code" [4, 8].

Osaka’s entrance outfit included jewelry from Mikimoto, the renowned Japanese pearl jeweller [5, 7]. The bold fashion choice attracted significant admiration from fans and fellow players alike [1, 4, 5]. Osaka has a history of making striking fashion statements at majors, including a jellyfish-inspired outfit at the Australian Open and a gold dress at the French Open [1, 2, 3, 7, 9].

Despite some last-minute uncertainty due to a foot injury, Osaka played without visible signs of discomfort. She defeated Elsa Jacquemot 6-1, 7-5 in a 79-minute match to advance to the second round. Osaka was seeded 14th at Wimbledon and has returned to the top 20 rankings since the birth of her daughter in 2023 [1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 6, 8, 7, 9].

Osaka framed fashion as storytelling, saying, "I like to use fashion as a medium for storytelling. Every walk-out is an opportunity to bring people into my creative world" [4].

Her next match at Wimbledon is scheduled as the tournament progresses after June 29, 2026 [10].