12 February 2020

Tennis ace Naomi Osaka debuts fashion collection at New York Fashion Week

Two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has debuted a collection at New York Fashion Week with Hanako Maeda's label ADEAM.

The Naomi Osaka Collection has five pieces which the tennis star worked on with Maeda.

Osaka attended the fashion show and was grateful for the chance to expand her influence as she didn't think this opportunity would ever come.

She said: "I just really loved her designs and everything, and I thought it would be really great if I could do something. I never thought this opportunity would come, but she said 'yes'. We met here in New York."

"Ever since I was a kid, I liked sketching stuff and trying to put different clothes together."

Osaka watching the fashion show at NYFW (PA Images)

Designer Maeda added that she has always wanted to work with Osaka.

Speaking to ITK, she said: "Before Naomi’s team reached out to me, I really wanted to something with her, but I figured it was impossible, because she's so busy and always traveling. So, when I received the email from her team, it was a dream come true.

"One of the amazing things about Naomi is that she’s actually very interested in fashion, in addition to sports. We share a lot of similar styles and reference points.

"Naomi also likes fashion that’s a bit more feminine and fun and playful, so it was really easy to work together, because we had a lot of similarities, and we also share our Japanese heritage.

"In Japan, little quirky and cute things are called kawaii, and we have a little bit of that here and that was our connection, which became the inspiration for the collection. Even though the collection still feels a little bit sporty and active, it’s still very designer and fashion, so it came out very well."

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