Fashion Aces from Roland Garros 2019
On the heels of the so-called Happy Slam, the Australian Open, comes the season's arguable Fashion Slam, the well-heeled Roland Garros. This major event in the City of Lights supplies sartorial delights in spades. Consider it much adieu about everything. And with that, here are the fashion aces of this year's tournament, those turning the terre battue war into wardrobe opportunities.
Sloane Stephens, Maria Sakkari and more sported black-and-white bee-themed looks from Nike. Stephens' two-piece set included a lovely lavender "swoosh" detail.
While Sakkari's look featured classy belting to break up the black.
In a Nike kit unique to him, Juan Martin del Potro boasted the best men's look that the House of Swoosh delivered this year on clay. While the afore-noted women's Nike looks went B&W only, Delpo's 1970s color palette brought rich hues and elevated the pattern to luxe status.
Two major-winning queens of the Adidas lot, Garbine Muguruza and Kristina Mladenovic, dressed in funereal black.
They enjoyed flattering white belting and bright-blue piping and faux-pleat blocks to finish the fashion victory.
In another collab with Louis Vuitton and Off-White's Virgil Abloh, Serena Williams wore French-language words including "queen," "champion," and "mother" on her haute sweature attire. And, as touted at Vogue and here on this site, it made for another crowning achievement in her decades-young closet. Was the warmup jacket functional? No, especially when she practiced her serve. But in her post-bodysuit, *apres-faux-*scandal fashion life, hers was the most hotly discussed look on file in France.
Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric, and a few more players in Nike's stable were gamely adorned in dark, fuzzy florals and skeleton-scene patterns straight out of a timeless toile catalog.
This was wallpaper ready, in the best way. Perhaps random or macabre to some; magnificent to most.
While some of their peers had to don retreat takes on Adidas' RG16 stripes: Robin Haase and crew sported polos via Diadora that simply stated, "You know, zebra—but not."
While the rest of his attire was rather unremarkable, let's give it to Rafael Nadal for the best clay-court kicks of this event, bodacious bright hues for his latest iteration of handsome footwear with Nike. Two words: shoe porn.
Men's Best: In Uniqlo, Kei Nishikori did everything with his kit that Roger Federer's fell short in accomplishing: It was instantly attractive, even aspirational. Its bright, complementary colors evoked 1990s goodness and came off fresh as his personality and razor-like backhand.
Women's Best: Kiki Bertens bowed out early due to illness, but her drop-waist polo dress from Fila's Heritage collection will be one of 2019's best kits.
Here's to the heritage of this great sporting-slash-fashion event, and to the varied and inspired looks turned on court at Roland Garros. Long may they reign in our respective bureaus.
Follow Jon on Twitter: @jonscott9.
Catch up on Week 1 at Roland Garros on the TENNIS.com Podcast:
