In Artist Uniform, a column for Highsnobiety, Chris Erik Thomas traces how personal style shapes an artist's identity.

Naomi Osaka isn’t one for quiet entrances. Like the explosive power of her forehand, the tennis star tends to burst onto the court wearing elaborate, often avant-garde outfits that use clothing like a sharp-edged tool. Sometimes she’s excavating her Japanese-Haitian heritage; sometimes she’s carving out a space in fashion proper, collaborating with small couturiers and big brands alike. 

It’s an approach that puts narrative, not luxury brand partnerships, first — though she has plenty of those, with labels like Nike and Louis Vuitton. “I like to use fashion as a medium for storytelling,” she told British Vogue in June. “Every walk-out is an opportunity to bring people into my creative world.” That world has included everything from jellyfish and Lucy Liu in Kill Bill to, most recently, the NBA’s trailblazing fashion star, Allen Iverson. 

Osaka’s walk-on fit for the 2026 US Open on Monday night, designed by luxury streetwear label Who Decides War and styled by Law Roach, translated Iverson’s baggy sweatsuits and cornrows into the couture maximalism Osaka favors. A billowing, sleeveless hooded robe affixed with distressed newspaper clippings of Osaka was paired with a trailing tulle skirt in homage to the Off-White Fall 2020 collection by the late Virgil Abloh, whom the WDW founders describe as a “mentor.” 

There’s also an Instagram shoot homage to Iverson’s 2001 Sports Illustrated cover, plus a pared-down, streetwear-inspired press room look: a white tee featuring Iverson’s 1999 SLAM magazine cover, plus a vintage 1997 US Open hat. 

Like most of Osaka’s concoctions, the layers of sartorial meaning run deep. “[Iverson] was an elite player on the court but also found a way to authentically merge culture, sports, and fashion,” she told Vogue. The same could be said for Osaka. Making waves in a fashion-focused sport like tennis is a tall task when your kit's brand sponsor can be just as important as your swing. Yet Osaka regularly goes viral for her looks, making standing out seem as easy as lobbing those blistering 124 mph serves. 

It helps that there’s a lineage of boundary-breaking athletes in the sport for her to follow, with none perhaps more influential than the Williams sisters. Venus and Serena’s bold choices — early 2000s cutouts and catsuits; unconventional fabrics like high-gloss Lycra; sculptural silhouettes — subverted tennis’ predisposition for whiteness, both in fabric hue and racial makeup. 

This is a sport, after all, that had an entire “alternate” league for Black players because the United States Lawn Tennis Association and elite private clubs barred them from membership and tournaments. (Decades later, the French Open banned “non-traditional” outfits after Serena wore a black catsuit designed by Virgil Abloh, sparking instant backlash.)

Osaka’s outfits don’t just push tennis’ renegotiation of Blackness and fashion further, though. They also incorporate her ancestry, providing her space to showcase her multicultural identity through clothing. She’s worn a kimono-inspired gown at the 2026 Wimbledon by Tokyo-based designer Hana Yagi, multiple Harajuku-referencing fits by Ambush’s Yoon Ahn at the 2024 US Open, and a custom Louis Vuitton gown referencing both Japan and Haiti at the 2021 Met Gala. 

The tennis star clearly has a handle on how to make use of fashion to reinforce her identity, on and off the court. As she fights to win her third US Open title this year, watchful eyes aren’t just bobbing between players as they lob the ball; they’re trained on whatever Osaka wears next. Win or lose, she’s made clear that her goals extend past the scoreline. As she explained after Monday’s match: “I want to do well and show you guys new outfits.”

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