Naomi Osaka dons Louis Vuitton couture as their new brand ambassador

Talk about a Grand Slam. You may already know that Japan’s Naomi Osaka is a champion tennis player who has conquered the US Open, even when her opponent was the great Serena Williams, but she’s also shaping up to be a fashion and couture mogul by becoming the new face of hallowed Paris fashion house Louis Vuitton. We love this for her.

Photographed by the iconic Annie Leibovitz and wearing Nicolas Ghesquiere’s designs, Louis Vuitton and the all-star athlete debuted her fashion spread which pays homage to traditional Japanese fashion and culture (with an LV bent, of course).

So far only two official shots from the campaign have been released, but in them we see Naomi sporting the haute couture spin on the traditional Japanese kimono with an iconic LV fanny pack dangling from her arm. In another shot, we see her standing against a backdrop of blue clouds, and her hair billows in the wind as she sports a loose fitting black and white dress that loops around her neck.

“Wow this is actually crazy. Honored to be @louisvuitton newest House Ambassador,” the tennis champ said on Instagram before adding the perfect little full-circle anecdote about how LV has influenced her life even before she joined the brand.

“Funny story : I first bought my mom a LV bag when I was 16 as a birthday present and it’s kinda been a tradition since. Do I call this a full circle moment? Yes.”

In Louis Vuitton’s own post, she also is quoted as saying, “Aside from tennis, my most treasured passion is fashion; and there is no brand more iconic than Louis Vuitton.”

Designer Nicolas Ghesquiere also heaped mounds of praise onto the new brand ambassador, writing on Instagram, “I am so excited to welcome @naomiosaka as a new ambassador at @louisvuitton. Naomi is an exceptional young woman who represents her generation and is a role model for everyone.”

“Her career and convictions are inspiring,” he continued, “and I am in awe of Naomi. She stays true to herself and doesn’t compromise on her values. I am looking forward to sharing new projects with Naomi in the year to come!”

“It is such an honor to work with Nicolas - he’s a designer I admire so much,” Naomi said via LV’s Insta, “and we share a mutual love of Japanese culture and style.”

The photographs will be the centrepiece for Nicolas’ spring/summer 2021 collection, and in addition, they are also featured in the January 2021 issue of Vogue Magazine, of which Naomi is the cover model.

“Wow.... Vogue cover. Words can’t describe how honored I am,” Naomi said on Instagram recently. “Thank you so much @voguemagazine this is really a dream. Growing up looking at my idols on the cover and now being able to be in their position is crazy to me. Super grateful, thank you.”

This isn’t the first time the tennis champ, who is the highest paid woman athlete of all time, has dipped her toes into the couture world. Recently, she joined forces with Strathberry to release her own line of limited-edition handbags. She also collab’d with Japanese label ADEAM for NY Fashion Week. She even knows how to wield her fashion for social justice, as she did during the 2020 US Open women’s singles final (which she won), where she donned a different face mask every match that featured the name of a Black person killed without justice. This was her second US Open singles title, but an even bigger win for the advocacy for racial justice.

We can’t wait to see what other epic looks she is going to serve up this spring and summer.

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