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HBD to the Queen of Tenniscore: Serena Williams' liminal fashion journey and her best fashion serves on-court
As Serena Williams celebrates her 43rd birthday today, let's explore her fashion prowess on the court
As tennis legend Serena Williams celebrates her 43rd birthday today, there's more to her legacy than just her dominance on the court. Known as one of the most stylish athletes of the century, Serena has made waves both in sports and fashion. With tennis-core trends taking over social media, it's the perfect time to dive into the archives and revisit her most iconic on-court fashion moments that have left a lasting impact on the world of style.
Since she turned professional in 1995, Serena's outfits have been all about self-presentation — expressing her personality beyond the sport and smashing barriers of race, age and background. Everything she wore was carefully honed by a series of stylists and sporting equipment experts, giving the world some of the most celebrated sports fits to this date.
The beginning
Serena was ahead of her time when it came to blending fashion with tennis. Long before accessorising on the court became a trend, she was already making a statement by coordinating her braids with her outfits. At the 1998 Lipton Championships in Florida, Serena added her own flair to her ensemble by sporting vibrant, multi-coloured braids and bold jewellery. The following year, at the 1999 Lipton Championships, she continued this trend.
After a few years of playing professionally, Serena's experiments with her ensembles went beyond just adding an accessory. At the get-go, her interest in dressing up was simply because she enjoyed dressing up (she attended the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale between 2000 and 2003 for fashion design). She moved on to experimenting with silhouettes that showcased her femininity, her prowess of being a woman and a mother on the court. Mr Hoke, the Chief Design Officer from Nike said that on a scale of 1 to 10, Serena's involvement with her clothes was an easy 10.
Settling into her style
But just showcasing who she was, was not enough. The player wanted more — she wanted to express her values, her interests in street style and her hardships on the court in a way few have done before. She added boots to her sneakers and mesh to her tennis dresses. In fact, her catsuit at the French Open in 2018 was designed in part to manage potential blood clots after a difficult childbirth, and in part to reflect the status of working mothers as “superheroes”. It set off such a controversy that the French officials deemed it a dress code violation and banned the catsuit from further matches.
Making the final mark
Serena's mother taught her to sew when she was as young as two or three. “I used to watch her put those old Vogue patterns on the floor and cut out the outfits,” said Williams. While her on-court fashion was breaking all the boxes, she has also been an icon in the haute couture world with unique sartorial choices that reflected her sports persona through high fashion. She became the first Black female athlete on the cover of Vogue in 2012, along with soccer player Hope Solo and swimmer Ryan Lochte. She had solo covers in 2015, 2018 and 2022 (the last two with her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr).
As we explore the archives of Serena's immaculate style, it's clear that her influence extends far beyond her tennis accolades. Serena has not only redefined the sport with her talent but also left an indelible mark on fashion. As tennis-core trends continue to thrive today, Serena's iconic fashion moments serve as a reminder of her enduring legacy, both as a trailblazer on the court and a style icon off it.
