Roger Federer designs his first collection for Uniqlo

From the front of the shirt to the drawing board

On 12 May 2025, Roger Federer and Clare Waight Keller, Uniqlo's creative director, present The Roger Federer Collection at the Paris Tennis Club, and pre-sales begin in Europe the same day.¹ Japan follows on 16 May, with prices from 1,990 to 4,990 yen.² The line is small: polo shirts in DRY-EX and AIRism, a knitted hoodie, a jacket, shorts and trousers, in navy, black and white.^1,3

What is new is not the product but the role. For seven years Federer has worn Uniqlo. Now, according to the brand, he and Waight Keller have created the collection together, drawing on his style on and off the court.⁴ "It was great to present this new collection with Clare," Federer says at the launch, where he plays tennis with guests wearing the same pieces.¹

The deal of 2018

The relationship began at Wimbledon on 2 July 2018, when Federer walked out for his first-round match in Uniqlo instead of Nike. Uniqlo confirmed the partnership the same day and said he would represent the brand at all tennis tournaments throughout the year.⁵ Nike had dressed him since 1994.⁶ ESPN, citing sources, reported a deal of more than $300 million guaranteed over ten years, a figure neither side confirmed.⁷ Reuters cited media reports of about $30 million a year from Uniqlo, against about $10 million a year from Nike.⁸ His last Nike contract, a ten-year deal from 2008, had expired in February 2018, according to his agent Tony Godsick.⁹

At the time Tadashi Yanai, founder of Uniqlo and CEO of Fast Retailing, said "my respect for him goes beyond sport" and added: "Our partnership will be about innovation on and off court." Federer answered in kind: "But like Uniqlo, I also have great love for life, culture and humanity."¹⁰ The contract was signed with a 36-year-old player. Federer later recalled a line from Uniqlo's John Jay: "One day I will retire from tennis but I will not retire from life".⁸ He added: "Uniqlo and Mr. Yanai believed in me very strongly as being very important to their brand".⁸

The initials came later

One thing did not move with him. The RF logo, created in 2008, belonged to Nike, so Federer played his first Uniqlo seasons without his own initials.^5,11 In February 2020 Nike agreed to assign the trademark to Federer's company, and the RF mark appears on Uniqlo caps from December 2020.¹¹ For a sponsor, the episode showed the difference between paying for a person and owning his symbol.

Federer retires after the Laver Cup in September 2022.¹² The Uniqlo contract continues, as Jay's remark had anticipated. The brand keeps him in view with travel series, events and appearances, including a series called Around the World with Roger Federer, which takes him to Tokyo and New York, and the launch of a Uniqlo and JW Anderson collection at MoMA PS1 in 2023.¹³

The Uniqlo logo in the fabric

The 2025 collection is the point at which the retired champion becomes a designer of the brand's product. Its details refer to Uniqlo rather than to Federer. Inspired by the Uniqlo logo, square holes are mapped onto the fabric of the DRY-EX polo and appear on the specially designed buttons of the AIRism piqué polo.⁴ The square of the logo becomes a texture.

Waight Keller describes the aim: "We wanted to create something that not only reflects our shared love for the game but also pushes boundaries through UNIQLO's unique fabric technology."¹ Federer stresses the everyday use: "I hope people enjoy wearing the collection in their own day-to-day lives."¹ On the fabrics he notes that "the stretch and DRY technology really make a difference."¹ Waight Keller describes pieces "that perform on court yet carry an effortless off-court attitude."¹ The positioning matches Uniqlo's own: tennis as the origin, everyday clothing as the purpose.

The format holds. In March 2026 a second collection launches at Uniqlo's renovated Covent Garden store in London, adding a green to the navy and white.¹⁴ At its launch Federer says that "tennis has an incredible deep, rooted style that we should highlight more".¹⁴ In September 2025 he also joins Waight Keller and the new ambassador Cate Blanchett on a panel at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.¹⁵ For Uniqlo the arrangement turns an endorsement into a design partnership. A sponsor that once could not print its athlete's initials now sells a collection with his name in the title and its own logo worked into the fabric.