Naomi Osaka wears jellyfish-inspired couture at Australian Open

Naomi Osaka wore a jellyfish-inspired outfit when she entered Rod Laver Arena for her first-round Australian Open match against Antonia Ruzic of Croatia, a match she won 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. The look combined a pleated miniskirt over wide-legged trousers, a wide-brimmed hat with a white veil and a parasol, and on-court pieces in a watery turquoise and green palette with soft frills on the warm-up jacket and dress that alluded to tentacles.

The design includes butterflies on the hat and parasol and is the result of a collaboration between Nike, Osaka, her longtime creative collaborator Marty Harper and London-based couturier Robert Wun. Osaka told Vogue the inspiration came while reading to her two-year-old daughter, Shai: “Reading to my daughter, discovering beauty in unexpected places like the underwater world, working with artists who care about meaning – those moments have all shaped the way I see this expression now.” Wun, who is reportedly a big tennis fan, told Vogue he revisited an earlier moment—when a butterfly landed on Osaka’s face during the 2021 Australian Open—to weave that story into the design.

The outfit has been framed as a striking fashion moment in a sport with its own sartorial history, from Serena Williams’s Virgil Abloh x Nike tutu at the 2018 US Open to other notable on-court statements.

Key Topics

Culture, Naomi Osaka, Australian Open, Rod Laver Arena, Robert Wun, Nike