A Ukrainian tennis star turned heads at Wimbledon for taking on the competition in a sporty version of her wedding dress.
Marta Kostyuk, 22, beat two challengers and suffered one loss wearing Wilson’s $298 “Marta Dress.” The garment is inspired by the gown crafted for Kostyuk’s November 2023 wedding by Joelle Michaeloff, the brand’s vice president of design.
Kostyuk wore the court-suitable homage to her bridal look for the first time at Wimbledon 2024 on Monday when she beat Slovakia’s Rebecca Šramková. On Thursday, she defeated Australia’s Daria Saville and wore the same look Friday, when America’s Madison Keys put an end to her winning streak.
In a YouTube clip posted by Wilson on July 1, Kostyuk said both her wedding gown and her tennis dresses were designed to be “light, comfortable, free, feminine” and “beautiful.”
Just like Kostyuk’s wedding dress, which she wore to tie the knot with her now-husband George Kyzymenko, the tennis dress is sleeveless and semi-backless, with a sloping V-neck and a sheer outer layer.
“I want people to see this dress and think, ‘Wow, I could actually get married in this dress that she’s playing in,'” Kostyuk said.
Kostyuk told Vogue earlier this week that enlisting Michaeloff as her wedding dress designer was a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Michaeloff, who worked for Lululemon before joining iconic tennis brand Wilson in 2020, came up with 12 designs before they landed on a final version: a silk organza dress covered by a removable sheer piece with floral appliques that Kostyuk would take off for the after-party, according to Vogue.
“I wanted it to be easy and really functional,” Michaeloff told Vogue, describing the gown, made out of ever-so-shimmery Italian fabric, as one of the “most technical wedding dresses ever made.”
“It has a built-in shelf prop, much like our tennis dresses,” she said. “It really hugged and fit her like something she could go and play a match in.”
She isn’t the only female player playing at Wimbledon in style.
US tennis star Coco Gauff wore a crisp white dress with cut-outs across the waist that some suspect was inspired by a look Serena Williams wore to Wimbledon in 2019, while Naomi Osaka took to the court on July 1 in an asymmetrical ruffled two-piece set designed by Nike.
Representatives for Kostyuk and Wilson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.
