Fashion-Forward Fitness with Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Fitbit

Dear readers, there is a lot of Hype around HBO Max’s new show, Bridgerton shoes are looming and Pinterest has made searching for different hair types possible

PublishedAugust 19, 2021

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Naomi Osaka is an absolute powerhouse. Just this week she won against Coco Gauff in round 16 in Cincinnati and continues to advocate for her mental health.

Another thing about Osaka…she’s always looking immaculate, which is why the recent announcement of her collaboration with the denim brand Levi’s is in perfect timing for fall. The Levi’s x Naomi Osaka line drops on August 24 in select Levi’s stores and online according to The Root’s managing editor of The Glow Up. The collection features four upcycled denim pieces: a kimono ($380), lace-up shorts ($150), crystal fringe shorts ($250) and a trucker jacket reimagined as a bustier top ($180).

Osaka has always loved being in kimonos and reflects on how rendering them in denim and sustainability is an interesting switch-up from what she’s used to. “The sustainability aspect was super important to me. And I love that every piece in the collection has been recycled or repurposed from old stock,” she said in a press release. Osaka has even stated she’d like to start her own brand with her sister one day, but “[loves] collab’ing with some great designers and learning the craft and the business.”

Taking a slight pivot—but not a big one—23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams has also dropped some beauty bombshells on us this week. Nike, which has been working to diversify their design team (h/t CNBC), has just launched a “diverse design incubator” program with Williams. This collection has been two years in the making and was designed by 10 New York-based streetwear apprentices, seven of whom have now been hired full-time by the company, per Women’s Wear Daily.

The program will occur each year and feature a new set of designers, giving them the opportunity to design for Nike and Williams. “I wanted to see more people who looked like me,” Williams told WWD.“It started with a conversation [with] Nike wanting to invest in the power of people, and embrace that diversity fosters creativity…I was excited to be a part of that.”

The collection which launches on September 1 with footwear, apparel and accessories, will have a “‘90s streetwear spirit.”

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Serena Williams x Zales

Serena Williams doesn’t just have a Nike deal coming down the pipeline. The tennis star and fashion love also recently inked a deal with jewelry retailer Zales, which will now exclusively carry Williams’s namesake jewelry line. The product will be available in-stores nationwide starting August 24. The line’s high-end diamond pieces will range from $129 to $10,000. With this new partnership, Serena Williams Jewelry is well on its way to having a global reach, according to WWD.

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**What’s All The Hype About?**

It’s no secret streetwear is taking over the design world by storm—and HBO Max has found a way to tap into that. The Hype, is an HBO Max original series that focuses on 10 streetwear designers and their process. The winner will receive a $150,000 prize and a cosign from the show’s three judges—rapper Offset; creative director and founder of Bephies Beauty Supply Beth Birkett, and costume designer and veteran stylist (for none other than Beyoncé) Marni Senofonte. The show’s main focus, outside of the designs, is to enhance diversity in the streetwear field, particularly by bringing in more women.

Unlike most design shows, each challenge will force the designers to create a brand new look that fits the confines of the challenge, but each look will also have to be part of a cohesive collection the designers build throughout the season. Additionally, the winning look from each episode will be featured on StockX, which any streetwear lover will tell you is one of the biggest resell sites in the game.

The challenges feature the panel of judges plus a guest judge. According to WWD, the show has “tapped a lengthy list of celebrities and figures in the fashion world to serve as judges.” That includes the inspiration for the TGU50: The Dap Award, Dapper Dan; Wiz Khalifa; Bobby Hundreds; Cardi B; Melody and others slated to be guest judges on the show.

The Hype premiered on August 12, and new episodes drop on Thursdays.

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**Shondaland x Bridgerton Shoes Coming in 2022**

Dear Readers,

It’s no secret that Netflix and Shondaland have been gearing up to give us the long-awaited (but not even a year later) second season of Bridgerton. Queen Shonda got us all flushed about Bridgerton merch when Netflix collaborated with second-niece Meena Harris’s brand “Phenomenal” on a line of sweatshirts. Now, the media conglomerate and queen of plot twists are collaborating with designer shoe brand Malone Souliers on a “15-piece capsule collection of shoes and accessories inspired by key looks from Bridgerton,” according to Harper’s Bazaar. So far, Shondaland, Netflix and Malone Souliers have kept the price point and release date of the shoes under wraps; however, as an independent luxury brand Malone Souliers has a history of pricing their shoes between $450 and $600, according to WWD. The collection will follow “Souliers’ darling approach to shoemaking and design,” which is part of what drove the Shondaland executives towards the partnership.

The shoe and accessory line will be available in stores in 2022.

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New Hair Inclusivity at Pinterest

If you’ve ever been personally victimized by Pinterest’s lack of diverse options when trying to find a new hairstyle, say “hell yeah!”

You no longer have to suffer! Pinterest just released their new feature which allows users to look up hairstyles by texture. They offer a skin tone matching tool that would bring you to an algorithm showing people with similar skin color to yours, but not necessarily the same hair. The social platform now offers five options when looking at hair pins—Protective, Coily, Curly, Wavy, Straight, Bald/Shaved. Naeemah LaFond, editorial hairstylist and global artistic director of Amika said, “necessity is the mother of invention,” in a statement to Glamour. LaFond played a major role in getting this new feature off the ground and quotes “the new tools that Pinterest has implemented have set a new and more inclusive standard and I’m proud to have played a part in that.”

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Workout in Style

Style is infiltrating the workout world this week, and I’m very here for it. Mega-brand fitness technology company Fitbit has tapped two Black-owned luxury brands to partner on their latest drops. Brother Vellies and Victor Glemaud each designed bands to go along with the new Sense and Versa 3 products by Fitbit. Brother Vellies’ design consists of two neutral colored scrunchie-like bands (as seen above) while Glemaud sticks to his signature gender-neutral knitwear patterns, designing a sustainable band created from recycled fibers with a stripe down the center of one band and a metallic ombré pattern on another. According to WWD, “[Glemaud] was motivated to partner with Fitbit in the first place by the thought of promoting inclusivity through product design.”

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The Most Exclusive Black Card in the World Just Became More Black

2021 Centurion “Black Art Card” designed by Kehinde Wiley

Iconic painter and 2020 The Root 100 nominee, Kehinde Wiley has partnered with American Express and Prada to create the new centurion Black “art card” design. Wiley’s card design is based on the 2012 painting Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg Gotha. The artwork is one of twelve that make up Wiley’s “An Economy of Grace” series. “An important part of my work is the decorative, organic background of the person being portrayed. The design on the Centurion Card stems from my interest in botanical elements and is a reference to my signature style,” Wiley tells Maxim.

Additionally, the chip—you know that little metal thing in your card that doesn’t even work half of the time? Well, that chip will be made available to card owners in a unisex Prada bracelet “constructed from scratch-resistant black Saffiano leather.”

Because wearing your bank account on your wrist is all the rage.

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