One of our favorite fun facts about tennis phenom-turned-fashion phenom Serena Williams is that she loves to rock sneakers under even the most glamorous of gowns. She famously did so while wearing Valentino to Prince Harry and homegirl Meghan Markle’s 2018 wedding reception, and did so again while co-hosting last year’s Met Gala, rocking neon Nikes under her Versace gown—granted, the theme was “Camp.” (Oh, Met Gala...how we missed your zany hijinks this year!)
But Serena’s slipping into some serious stilettos for her newest role: the athlete, philanthropist, mom and emerging fashion icon is now the new global ambassador of luxury footwear label Stuart Weitzman, as announced by both the brand and Serena herself—who share the initials “SW”—on Tuesday, via Instagram.
A caption accompanying the post read:
New SW global spokeswoman #SerenaWilliams stars in our 2020 Campaign. Inspired by Serena, who herself has demonstrated resilience and courage to overcome obstacles throughout her career, the campaign reinforces the notion of women standing as pillars of hope and optimism for their communities. @serenawilliams #SWWomen #StuartWeitzman
While a global pandemic may seem an odd time to launch a luxury shoe campaign, we’d be lying if we said the sight of Serena’s famous gams didn’t brighten up yet another day spent sheltering-in-place—and convince us to stop being lazy about our legwork just because no one’s seeing us.
Following in the equally admirable footsteps of ballerina Misty Copeland, who starred in the brand’s “Nutcracker”-themed 2019 holiday advertising, the Weitzman team writes that Serena’s presence in this current moment “exemplifies the message of hope and optimism of the campaign.”
“Now, more than ever, is a moment to focus on hope and moving forward,” she says in a captioned quote. “I want women of every generation to be inspired to do so, one step at a time.”