If you notice professional tennis player Serena Williams looking voguish at the US Open Tennis Championships this year, it is because highly sought after Ghanaian designer Virgil Abloh is the talent behind her new kit.
In collaboration with Nike, the Off-White fashion designer who is the latest artistic director of Louis Vuitton‘s menswear collection took on designing her outfit for this year’s U.S. Open with Abloh’s signature quotation marks. The collection aptly tagged The Queen.
Known for her out of the box looks on the court – remember when she wore beach blonde hair and a latex catsuit? – Serena will play in a pair of customized Nike Court Flare sneakers and sport an Abloh-designed jacket while off court.
She told Vogue: When I first tried on the dress, I felt very strong and feminine at the same time. It has all the really strong elements, from the leather to that really cool stretchy material, I felt so feminine in the tutu, which is probably my favorite part of it. It really embodies what I always say: that you can be strong and beautiful at the same time.
In an interview with Vogue, Virgil said:
When I was thinking about outfits for Serena, I was thinking about her playing the game and her aesthetic while she is. Also about the confidence that’s needed while playing at the top level of tennis. This is very far from a design-by-numbers project. As you can tell by her personality in her play, she’s very much involved in her aesthetic. She has a level of creativity with how she expresses herself in terms of clothing in any event, so I made everything with her logic in mind. We traded images and there was a lot of back-and-forths to get this done in short order.
The public will get to see Williams and her new tennis look at the end of this month during the U.S. Open and a few limited edition pieces will be available at select Nike locations in the US later in August.
Photo Credit: @off____white
HI
Am so excited and shaky too
@misskaeks