"Aside from tennis, my most treasured passion is fashion," reads a blurb on Naomi Osaka's website. Also seen on the page, is an image of the young tennis star from Japan, a four-time Grand Slam singles champion and currently a world no. 2 female tennis player. However, she is not donning her usual signature sports look but that of an upcoming diva.
On Monday, September 13, Naomi Osaka is all set to stand alongside budding fashion icons, like singer Billie Eilish, actor Timothée Chalamet and poet Amanda Gorman and co-chair one of the most stylish and awaited fashion events, 2021 MET Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States.
The fundraiser event, popularly seen as an annual costume extravaganza by celebs from across the globe, is held every year at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2020, the event—like most other popular events—was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the theme is American Independence and for the first time ever, the event will be screened live by Vogue.
Speaking on the selection of its co-chairs, Vogue had stated, "Each of the Met's four co-hosts embodies the defining factor of American style: individualism," adding that they may approach the concept differently, but their shared passion for expressing themselves through clothing connects with the exhibition's theme.
Last week, Naomi Osaka, who is also the brand ambassador for fashion giant Louis Vuitton, introduced her social media fans to her new cosmetic venture titled Kinlo.
"@kinloskin out now ✨ it's been a really surreal experience this past year working on this and having an incredible team with so much knowledge teaching me along the way. So happy with how everything turned out and I'm excited to see what you guys think," she wrote on Instagram.
Earlier in 2020, Naomi Osaka debuted at the New York Fashion Week with her first-ever clothing line through fashion designer Hanako Maeda's label, ADEAM.
"Ever since I was a kid, I liked sketching stuff and trying to put different clothes together," Naomi Osaka told AOL back then. She furthered, "This is my first fashion exploration... As athletes, we don't get as many chances to dress up so much, so I tend to go a little bit extra when I do get the chance, so it's really fun."
This year in June, the 23-year-old sports star made news waves as she withdrew from the French Open after her decision to not speak to the media during the event backfired with the organizers.
In an open note on Twitter, she stated that she had "suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018" and that "it was better to exercise self-care and skip the press conferences" because she gets "huge waves of anxiety before".
Her statement further added, "Though the tennis press has always been kind to me (and I wanna apologize especially to all the cool journalists who I may have hurt), I am not a natural public speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world's media. I get really nervous and find it stressful to always try to engage and give you the best answers I can."
