Fashion plays an important role at Wimbledon. From the players’ on-court looks to spectator style, tennis-inspired outfits always have their moment during the two weeks of The Championships.
But one player is taking things to another level this year by wearing a remake of her custom wedding dress on the match court.
Marta Kostyuk has been given her own Wilson outfit, named ‘The Marta’ and inspired by the full-length gown that she got married in.
The world No. 19 married her partner George Heorhii last year wearing “the most technical wedding dress ever” – a piece she designed with her tennis clothing sponsor, Wilson. It was an unusual choice given the brand is mostly known for its rackets and sporting goods.
And they took things a step further at SW19 this year, recreating the wedding dress and turning it into Kostyuk’s match kit. The Ukrainian took to the court for her first round wearing a v-neck, open-back, white dress with a button-up overlay that she removed to play.
It was almost identical to the gown she got married in last November, which had the same dress underneath with a full-length, organza overlay adorned with flowers. “The idea and the story behind this dress is, I think, by far one of the best in tennis. I don’t know if ever but for sure, right now,” Kostyuk said of her Wimbledon look.
“It was about being light, comfortable, free, feminine. Everything that was in my wedding dress is the same in this tennis dress. The fact that you come on the court with this like over-dress and then you take it off, it’s so cool. It’s unbelievable.”
The 22-year-old now wants to see someone get married in the tennis version of her dress. She added: “I want someone to see this dress and be like, Wow, I can actually get married in this dress that she’s playing in. And I think it will be cool if someone really thinks that.
“I will put this dress in a frame and hang it on the wall somewhere for sure. Definitely will be one of the highlights of my life and my career, what else can you ask for?” Joelle Michaeloff, who designed both versions of the dress alongside Kostyuk, explained just how similar the Wimbledon version was to the real wedding gown.
“We kept the mini-overlayer dress, which buttons off,” the Wilson head of design told Vogue. “Her walkout will be with all the layers, and then she’ll remove this over-dress, which is exactly like the wedding dress in that there’s the five buttons down the front; I’ve made her a quick-release option so she can take it off fast.
“What’s underneath is basically the original dress, but with a built-in ball short in this one. Basically, we added an underlayer component and then raised the neckline a little bit – we don’t want any mistakes in Wimbledon.”
The dress has already been something of a lucky charm for Kostyuk, who beat Rebecca Sramkova 6-3 6-2 in the first round. And she will be hoping that it has the same effect when she faces Daria Saville on Wednesday.
