By Amy Tennery and Dhruv Munjal
NEW YORK (Reuters) – From glossy magazine covers to generation-defining styles on the court, Serena Williams bowed out at the U.S. Open on Friday, having rewritten the fashion playbook for female athletes as she built an empire of her own.
The 23-time Grand Slam winner chose women’s fashion bible Vogue to announce she was “evolving away from tennis”, before taking to the court in her stunning Nike trainers at the US Open this week under the magazine’s watchful eyes . The grand dame, Anna Wintour.
The highly competitive queen of Queens produced a tough performance in what is widely expected to be her final tournament, losing in the third round 7-5 6-7 (4) 6-1 to Ajla Tomljanovic with her legacy as a firmly cultural icon. in place.
“Style and sport have always been closely intertwined, but no athlete has embraced the power of fashion like Serena Williams,” Katie Abel, executive editor of Footwear News, told Reuters.
“She has never shied away from boundary-breaking looks, on or off the pitch, and always knows how to send a message, even if it’s controversial.”
She famously competed at Flushing Meadows in a denim skirt in 2004 and bare feathers at Roland-Garros in 2018, when she donned a black bodysuit to maintain her circulation after developing a blood clot in the days after giving birth.
After organizers said they would ban the suit from their clay court, Williams supporters cried foul. Williams quipped to The Associated Press: “When it comes to fashion, you don’t want to be a repeat offender.”
The moment was an instant classic and showed she could use fashion to disrupt the status quo, said Katie Lebel, a sports gender equality researcher and assistant professor at the University of Guelph.
“Sexism has been quite pervasive when it comes to women’s clothing… Expectations about what female athletes should look like were particularly steeped in that,” she said.
“Enter Serena and she pushed back against it all. I think she really rethought the uniform standards for women in tennis.”
Serena and her sister Venus brought black style to the overwhelmingly white sport when they first took to the court as professionals in the 1990s, facing criticism for wearing beaded braids in competition.
Williams wore this style when she won her inaugural Grand Slam in New York. Photos of the Olympia girl with identical braids in the stands at Flushing Meadows this year were an instant sensation.
“From the moment Serena and her sister Venus hit the court with their signature braids … they have been role models for black women and aspiring female athletes everywhere,” Abel said.
‘GLAM SLAM’
Williams’ friendship with late Louis Vuitton artistic director Virgil Abloh resulted in one of her most memorable US Open ensembles, a ballerina-inspired Nike bag in 2018, when she was so close to winning the 24- of great record, but did not reach the end.
While her run at the US Open is over, her work in New York has just begun, with a “Glam Slam” preview of new looks from her brand S by Serena scheduled for September 12 to coincide with the Week of Fashion in New York.
And her retirement from competitive sport is expected to have little or no impact on her brand value – with Nike planning to continue its partnership with the 40-year-old.
“Williams may be retiring from tennis, but I think her influence on fashion is just beginning. Without her grueling workout schedule, I would think she would have even more time and energy to focus on this category,” said W magazine fashion director Nora Milch.
A bona fide fashion mogul off the court, Serena was named to the board of shopping app Poshmark in 2019, opening her closet along with pieces from Olympia to customers in the fashion market.
Manish Chandra, founder and CEO at Poshmark, said Williams has inspired several other female entrepreneurs to sell on the app through her unique voice and perspective.
“As a champion of female empowerment, Serena always leads with love and helps ensure that our Poshmark community is front and center in everything we do,” Chandra told Reuters.
“Her accomplishments and vision across the worlds of business, fashion and entrepreneurship made her a perfect fit for our board… She leads with humility, kindness and authenticity.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York and Dhruv Munjal in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Rory Carroll in New York; Editing by William Mallard)
