A lot of athletes dress well because someone on their PR team told them to. Federer has never sat within this category and part of that is a result of him actually caring about good tailoring. Over a 24-year career, he built a reputation on court for being the cleanest, most elegant player in the sport, and off it, he did the same thing. Navy suits, tailored blazers, front row seats at Paris Fashion Week alongside Anna Wintour. He understood early that how you present yourself matters.
He admitted in a 2022 interview with British GQ that it wasn’t always like that. “I don’t understand how I used to wear extra large,” he said. “Sampras and Agassi used to wear this baggy stuff. It was just a trend.” The shift from oversized kit to properly fitted clothes changed everything, and once he understood what fit actually meant, there was no going back.
On Court
Wimbledon 2007, the Blazer
Federer walked onto Centre Court for the 2007 Wimbledon final in a cream Nike blazer with gold piping, matching shorts and a gold bag. It was the kind of walkout nobody in tennis had done before, and Taylor Fritz paid direct tribute to it this week at Wimbledon 2026. The outfit said something about where Federer stood at that point in his career, five titles in, completely at ease, dressing like someone who had already won before he walked out.
Wimbledon 2008, the Cardigan
The year after the blazer came the cardigan, and it might be the most referenced piece of clothing in the history of men’s tennis. Custom made in Italy by designer Jason Badden in collaboration with Nike, the cream cable-knit featured a gold RF logo embroidered on the chest, wooden buttons hand-carved and laser-etched with RF5, representing his five Wimbledon titles. Every detail was made for Federer specifically and for no one else. Carlos Alcaraz paid homage to it at Wimbledon last year, which tells you everything about its staying power.
US Open 2007, the All Black
While Wimbledon required white, the US Open gave Federer room to move, and he used it. In 2007 he wore a full black outfit, black shirt, black shorts, black socks, black shoes, complete with custom Nike Vapor shoes featuring three circular Swiss flags representing three consecutive US Open titles, with his initials embossed on the heel and tongue. The American press nicknamed him Darth Federer. The Imperial March from Star Wars was played before each of his matches that tournament.
US Open 2019, the Uniqlo Era
In 2018, Federer ended his 20-year relationship with Nike and signed a reported $300 million deal with Uniqlo, which surprised most of the tennis world. His first major showing in the new kit came at the 2019 US Open, where he wore a black outfit with a stand collar that looked closer to a smart dinner shirt than a tennis polo. It was a deliberate shift toward something more refined and less performance-led in its look, even if the function was the same.
Off Court
Away from tennis, Federer gravitated toward classic tailoring, well-cut suits in navy, grey and black, worn with close attention to fit. He built a close friendship with Anna Wintour after they met at the US Open in 2005, and spent years sitting front row at fashion shows in New York and Paris, at Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton. He has spoken openly about his love for Tom Ford, Giorgio Armani and Gucci.
At the 2017 Met Gala, which celebrated the work of Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garçons, Federer wore what appeared from the front to be a clean, simple Gucci tuxedo. From the back, the jacket featured a cobra in rhinestones. The restraint from the front and the detail from behind was exactly the kind of thing a man with genuine taste does, rather than someone wearing a costume.
His off-court casual approach followed the same logic, white t-shirts, well-fitting dark jeans, leather loafers or clean white trainers. He understood early that the less effort a look appears to take, the more effort usually went into it. A Rolex on the wrist, a properly tailored blazer for press, nothing overwrought, nothing that needed explaining.
When he appeared on Centre Court at Wimbledon in 2022 for the parade of champions following his retirement, he wore a suit paired with white trainers and made it look completely natural. Most men would look like they’d got dressed in the dark. Federer looked like he’d been planning it for weeks.
