Inside Naomi Osaka’s Indian Wells look—A fierce rebuttal
Exclusive images and a chat with Osaka and creative director Marty Harper about the Mad Max–inspired look, fashion as armor, and storytelling in the face of fashion illiteracy.
Naomi Osaka doesn’t bow to the altar of tradition, and certainly not the misguided outrage that routinely comes her way. She reveres fashion and has an innate understanding of its power to transcend the insular world of tennis.
Tonight at Indian Wells, she’s picking up the torch she lit in Australia when she wore a couture look from designer Robert Wun over her jellyfish-inspired Nike kit to walk on court for her first match. Working closely with her longtime creative director Marty Harper and the New York jewelry designer Chris Habana, Osaka will walk on court wearing custom gold ear cuffs that were 3D-molded to wrap around her ear and hold her earbuds, as well as tribal-inspired gold jewelry that hooks onto her lip and nose. They’re the finishing touches atop a cheetah-print Nike dress with a black mesh back, matching jacket, and cheetah-print sneakers.
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