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Serena Williams’ design crew debuts maiden collection

By Tobi Awodipe
21 August 2021   |   3:09 am
Two years ago, tennis star and global style icon, Serena Williams teamed up with sports giant, Nike and under the former’s leadership, Nike selected 10 emerging designers from underrepresented backgrounds

Serena Williams

Two years ago, tennis star and global style icon, Serena Williams teamed up with sports giant, Nike and under the former’s leadership, Nike selected 10 emerging designers from underrepresented backgrounds to work on a new, Serena Williams inspired and approved collection.

The 10 winners were scouted with the help of Harlem’s Fashion Row and New York’s fashion schools like the Fashion Institute of Technology and Parsons, as well as from within Nike’s retail stores and were given 18 months to design and craft their perfect collection of Serena-ready garments. The collection was launched this week.

The inaugural Serena Williams Design Crew collection takes cues from her life—such as her daughter’s OO initials (a double meaning with zero meaning love in tennis), Ghana’s Kente-cloth-inspired prints with hidden S monograms, and her 23 Grand Slam titles and incorporates them into ready-to-wear outfits and footwear.

“I feel like they were able to communicate my aesthetics very well through the silhouettes and patterns that they brought and in the colors as well,” Serena said. “It’s something really fun, definitely bold and it’s definitely different—but it’s also very wearable. I think that’s also really important.”

The collection offers one-shoulder sports bras and contrast-sleeve tops intended to highlight your arms and body-fitting jumpsuits. According to the brand, the collection is not just a celebration of her style but also an opportunity for her fans to get her to look as well as a chance for the 10 designers to jumpstart their careers in fashion.

As the first collection debuts, the SWDC’s second cohort is working on their Serena-inspired line and applications are open for the third group.

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