Tennis-Osaka's personal apparel collection underscores star power
Tennis-Osaka's personal apparel collection underscores star power
By Jack Tarrant
TOKYO, Nov 19 (Reuters) - As the world's highest paid sportswoman and a three-time Grand Slam champion, Naomi Osaka is no stranger to the spotlight, but ahead of the release of her personalised range of apparel made with sponsors Nike , the 23-year-old was nervous.
"My Nike collection drops tomorrow... nervous is not enough to describe this feeling," Osaka tweeted before the collection launched on Monday.
In May, Forbes reported Osaka's 12-month earnings at $37.4 million, giving her the edge over her idol Serena Williams as the highest paid female athlete in history.
Most of Osaka's income comes from set of lucrative sponsorship deals, including with automaker Nissan , All Nippon Airways and Nike, who signed her to a reported $10 million-a-year deal in 2019.
The release of her own Nike collection, just like her late hero Kobe Bryant, is particularly special.
"I am so happy about this collection," Osaka told Reuters via email on Thursday.
"I was very involved in the design process. I knew exactly how I wanted the collection to be represented."
"It's colourful in a way that represents my heritage and how I communicate my sense of style."
Heritage is central to everything Osaka does.
Osaka, who was born to a Japanese mother and Haitian father, has been an outspoken supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement both in the United States, where she resides, and in Japan.
During her run to a second U.S. Open title in September, Osaka wore a different facemask for each match, each carrying the name of a Black American to highlight racial injustice.
Osaka said her favourite item in the collection is a long-sleeve camo shirt that has the flags of Japan, Haiti and the United States on the sleeve.
"I’m always so happy to celebrate my multicultural background and that’s exactly why we incorporated all three flags," said
"It’s a celebration of diversity and inclusion and I’m proud to wear them."
Osaka is currently preparing for January's Australian Open, a tournament she won in 2019, and the world number three is excited to return to competition after a year disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
"Things are going really well," said Osaka. "I’m ready to start competing again."
(Reporting by Jack Tarrant; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
((jack.tarrant@thomsonreuters.com;)
傑克·塔蘭特著東京，11月19日(路透社)-作為世界上收入最高的女運動員和三次大滿貫冠軍，大阪直美對聚光燈下的焦點並不陌生，但在她與贊助商耐克(Nike)共同製作的個性化服裝發佈之前，這位23歲的女孩感到緊張。大阪在週一推出耐克系列之前發推文稱：“我的耐克系列明天就會下跌……緊張並不足以形容這種感覺。”今年5月，福布斯公佈了大阪12個月的收入為3740萬美元，使她超過了她的偶像塞雷娜·威廉姆斯(Serena Williams)，成為歷史上收入最高的女運動員。大阪的大部分收入來自一系列利潤豐厚的贊助協議，包括與汽車製造商日產(Nissan)、全日空(All Nippon Airways)和耐克(Nike)的贊助協議，據報道，這些公司在2019年與大阪簽訂了年薪1000萬美元的協議。她自己的耐克系列的發佈，就像她已故的英雄科比·布萊恩特(Kobe Bryant)一樣，特別特別。週四，大阪通過電子郵件告訴路透社：“我對這些收藏感到非常高興。”“我非常參與設計過程。我清楚地知道我想要如何展示這些藏品。”“它色彩斑斕，代表了我的傳統，也代表了我傳達時尚感的方式。”遺產是大阪一切活動的核心。大阪的母親是日本人，父親是海地人，她一直是美國和日本黑人生命也是運動的直言不諱的支持者。在9月份第二次角逐美國網球公開賽冠軍期間，大阪在每一場比賽中都戴着不同的口罩，每一場比賽都印有一個美國黑人的名字，以突顯種族不公。大阪説，她最喜歡的藏品是一件袖子上有日本、海地和美國國旗的長袖迷彩衫。他説：“我總是很高興能慶祝我的多元文化背景，這也正是我們合併這三面旗幟的原因。”“這是對多樣性和包容性的慶祝，我很自豪能穿上它們。”大阪目前正在為明年1月的澳大利亞網球公開賽做準備，這是她在2019年贏得的一場比賽，這位世界排名第三的選手在被冠狀病毒大流行中斷了一年後，很高興能重返賽場。“一切都很順利，”大阪説。“我已經準備好重新開始比賽了。”(Jack Tarant報道；Lincoln Feast編輯)(jack.tarant@thomsonreurs.com；)
譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。