Roger Federer named the Most Stylish Man of the year by GQ

Roger Federer, the 35-year old Swiss International, added another feather to his cap as he was named 2016’s ‘Most Stylish Man’ by GQ on Wednesday, the 22nd of December.

The title, which was previously held by artists like Justin Timberlake and Kanye West, saw Federer go “head to head” against the actor of Thor, Tom Hiddleston. After being announced as the fourth-highest paid athlete in 2016, according to Forbes, this is another rare triumph for the father of four.

In order to reach the final round against British actor Tom Hiddleston, Federer defeated singer Zayn Mallik, actor Ryan Gosling, actor Steven Yuen, rapper Kanye West and Academy-award winning actor Jared Leto, in the GQ polls. Eventually, Roger beat Hiddleston by more than 60 percent of the fan votes.

Considered as one of the world’s most marketable sports stars, Federer is not an ordinary tennis champion. Apart from the fact that he has his own clothing line with Nike, he is also sponsored by luxury brands such as Mercedes and Rolex. However, despite such associations, he has kept away from fashion trends in 2016 and GQ’s Matt Sebra believes that may be one of the reasons why he was voted the most stylish.

“It’s probably because he didn’t embrace any of this year’s most notable menswear trends. As powerful as a swerve can be, sometimes keeping things classic is the most effective sartorial choice a man can make,” Sebra wrote.

The title seems ironic for the Swiss star considering he wasn’t known for his fashion sense in his younger days. Apart from his prowess in Lawn Tennis, he is also remembered for having sported bleach blonde tips which changed to ponytails and then “manbangs” over the years. Unlike many of his contemporaries, his fashion on the tennis court has usually been rather muted when compared to the more outlandish and daring outfits sported by Nadal and Wawrinka.

During a conversation with Sports Illustrated, when asked about his take on fashion in the sports industry he said, “My advice is you’ve got to make sure you wear the clothes and not [let] the clothes wear you. It’s quite simple in a way. Don’t wear something you totally feel uncomfortable with, but take some chances. Play around a bit.

“I felt very uncomfortable in suits when I was younger, so what I just started doing was wearing suits when I was going to dinner. I used to overdress a little bit so I got used to wearing suits. Now wearing a suit is like wearing a track suit for me. So it’s all good.”