Serena Williams Says Fie To Tennis Federation Rebuke
Tennis icon Serena Williams, sans catsuit, is still slaying. With the help of Chicago native and Louis Vuitton’s Men’s Artistic Director Virgil Abloh, she came to play at the U.S. Open (and won) in a bodysuit complete with a black tutu and fishnet hosiery.
To which one can only say, “Yasssss!”
“When I saw Serena in the tutu, I immediately thought of ballet (very graceful), so for her to wear that, I thought it was the most appropriate thing for her to wear — because she was prancing all over those trying to dim her lights, those naysayers,” said Abi Ishola, editor-in-chief and founder of Beyond Classically Beautiful, an online platform designed to celebrate black women’s beauty. “She’s a force; she is tennis.”
This is days after French Tennis Federation President Bernard Giudicelli imposed a dress code to regulate players’ uniforms, citing catsuits like the one Williams wore to ward against blood clots “will no longer be accepted,” Giudicelli said in an interview with Tennis Magazine. “One must respect the game and the place.”
Respect the game and place? How about respect my body and what I want to do with it? Twenty-three Grand Slam titles under one’s belt should earn some respect from the powers that be, no?
That’s what Williams’ clothing statement seemed to say when she took the court in New York on Aug. 27. Williams shrugged off Giudicelli’s ban, saying that when it comes to fashion, she didn’t want to be a repeat offender, but the ban didn’t prevent many from calling foul on the clothing decision. Legend Billie Jean King wrote on Twitter that “the policing of women’s bodies must end” while former U.S. star Andy Roddick tweeted that the decision was “so dumb and shortsighted it hurts.”
The fact that Williams showed up in an outfit created by a designer with Chicago ties doesn’t hurt. We’re a city that refuses to be put in a box. The outfit was a collaboration between Nike and Abloh and featured fishnet tights, a pair of sparkly sneakers and a bit of customization with “Serena” emblazoned on the top and on the soles of the sneakers.
Abloh, whom fashion expert Constance C.R. White referred to as a trailblazer, is in a seat of power. His debut spring-summer 2019 menswear collection for Louis Vuitton took place in Paris this summer, and in 2019, Chicagoans can look forward to a retrospective show at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
“We’re in a moment where African-Americans’ influence and style in fashion and the African Diaspora’s influence on the world is huge and growing,” White said in an earlier interview.
And Williams is but one poster child of that influence. With statements (quiet or loud), one can only hope people check themselves before they wreck themselves.
“A few years ago, I read Richard Williams’ book about raising such confident daughters,” Ishola said. “And he said he taught his daughters to play in Compton because if they learned to play there, they could play anywhere, and it’s true. She’s played in front of racist, vile people and she withstands it all. It just shows she’s a class act.”