Naomi Osaka will serve as co-chair for the return of the Met Gala, which returns Sept. 13 – the Monday after the US Open final – after a year’s hiatus.
Formally known as the Costume Institute Gala at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Met Gala is one of, if not the, most glamorous and star-studded party on the celebrity calendar.
“Gen-Z superstars Timothée Chalamet, Billie Eilish, Naomi Osaka and Amanda Gorman will serve as co-chairs, while Tom Ford, Adam Mosseri, and Anna Wintour comprise the evening’s honorary chairs,” wrote Vogue in the announcement. “They may be young, but each of the night’s co-hosts has made their mark on fashion.
“Though she was born in Japan, tennis champ Osaka’s formative years were spent stateside, racking up titles and developing an irreverent sense of style.
The striking, colorful pieces she favors on and off the court turned her into a designer muse and one of the best-dressed athletes around.”
Osaka met Vogue Editor-in-Chief and tennis superfan Anna Wintour after winning her first major title at the 2018 US Open. Two years ago, Osaka was in Madrid following the fashion unveilings at the Met Gala from her phone.
Now she’ll play a role in shaping it.
“I feel like it would be fun to go to, but then I would have to talk to people and we all know that I don’t like doing that,” Osaka said at the time. “You have to do it once in your life if you have the chance.”
As chaired by Wintour, tennis has always had a place at the exclusively prestigious Met Gala. Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Roger Federer have been frequent invitees, with Williams and Sharapova even being invited to play themselves in the fake staging of the event for the 2018 heist film, “Ocean’s 8.”
