As the Williams sisters prepared to face off at the US Open on Sept. 1, there was much speculation over whether Serena or Venus—seeded 16th and 17th respectively (prior to the match), would take home the win. (It was baby sis Serena this round, proving that motherhood hasn’t slowed her down, after all.)
But in the buzz surrounding yet another head-to-head match between the long-competing siblings, what many may have missed was their dynamic double fashion statements. Wearing their own fashions on the court and in the days preceding. Venus premiered fresh looks from her sportswear line EleVen by Venus, while Serena repped both new designs from her eponymous line and her much talked about “Queen” collaboration with Nike and Off-White’s Virgil Abloh.
In fact, last week Venus followed up the successful July launch of EleVen in celebrated British department store Selfridges by teasing her US Open ensemble—which she paired with a matching visor on the court—with an image from her latest campaign, captioning the post, “I’m ready, are you? #USOpen.”
It coincided with the exciting announcement that for the first time, EleVen has expanded its size range from 0X to 3X, dispelling the myth that fuller figure women aren’t also fitness enthusiasts by partnering exclusively with size-inclusive subscription box brand Dia&Co on a six-piece plus collection ($55-$89) for their Active Boxes.
Meanwhile, mere days after the launch of her collection with Abloh in Queens, NY, Serena made an appearance at pop-up shop for emerging brand showcase Tictail to debut the latest collection for her Serena line—which includes new denim offerings that she told style site Coveteur were an effort to “start strong and start bold and start controversial.”
One of the most unexpected aspects of Williams’ new denim designs—which include what she calls a “retro fit”? Minimal to no stretch.
“When I was designing [these jeans], I was inspired by that old picture from New York where the men are all sitting and all working in denim,” Williams told Coveteur. “You know that picture where they’re way up top [on a steel beam]? I was inspired by that, and I was like, ‘We need to make a comfortable denim pant that doesn’t have a ton of stretch in it. I’ve never owned a pair of jeans that didn’t have stretch in them; I couldn’t fit them. I had to make them to own them [laughs]. With these, curvy girls can finally own a pair of jeans that don’t have a ton of lycra!”
But while Venus and Serena are seemingly aiming to make as big an impact in fashion as they have in tennis, it looks like the next generation is already in training. For her first birthday last Saturday, Serena’s daughter Alexis Olympia got two big gifts: getting to watch Mommy play her heart out (and win!) against Auntie Venus, and her own miniature pair of Off-White x Nike Blazer Mids from her newest uncle, Virgil Abloh.
Match, set, love.