How do you know you’re a bonafide fashion star? When label-of-the-moment Off White (by man-of-the-moment Virgil Abloh) creates the on and off court looks for your next tennis match. When Serena Williams steps out onto court at the upcoming US Open, she will be wearing a capsule collection by Virgil Abloh x Nike, called Queen.
Made up of trainers (with her name on them), asymmetric dresses with tulle skirts (apparently Williams loves ballet) and even a jacket to keep her warm, this is Abloh’s and Nike’s ode to Williams' sheer athletic prowess. Crafted from Nike's state of the art materials, to give ease of movement and to wick moisture away, Abloh has ensured there is still a nod to the woman wearing his creations, with one-armed pieces softened with flouncy ballerina skirts. All of this, despite her having lost most of her recent games.
Of course, this is exactly why Serena is so compelling at the moment. She has gone from being the titan of tennis, smashing her way through 23 grand slam titles and completely dominating the women's game, to suddenly appearing startlingly normal. How? She had a daughter and now admits to struggling to adapt to motherhood, and being “in a funk’.
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She burst into tears when she lost the final at Wimbledon, and recently crashed out of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic courtesy of Johanna Konta – in her worst ever defeat – having just learnt the man who murdered her half-sister had been released from prison. In a few short months, Williams has transformed from being a machine into a person with emotions and frailties, and, as told to CNN recently, freely admits to being in new territory.
"I'm trying to get a new vibe there," she said of the forthcoming US Open. "But I'm not going in there thinking I'm going to lose. That's not being Serena. That's being someone else."
Here is hoping her new wardrobe means the queen is back.
