‘Queen’ Serena Williams lets her clothes do the talking in Paris – with a little help from Virgil Abloh
- Williams shows off zebra-striped ensemble at Roland-Garros, a year after her Wakanda-inspired, Black Panther-style catsuit challenged the tennis establishment
Serena Williams beat Russia’s Vitalia Diatchenko by two sets to one in the first round of the French Open at Roland-Garros in Paris on Monday.
Williams struggled in the opening set, which she lost 6-2, before bouncing back to win 12 of the last 13 games, and take the second and third sets 6-1 and 6-0.
Though her exemplary ball striking salvaged what could have been a disastrous end to her clay court season, a key talking point after her win was her outfit.
The zebra-striped ensemble featured a crop top and skirt designed by Virgil Abloh, who has collaborated with Kanye West and Nike, and is known for the Off-White fashion house he founded in 2013 in Milan, Italy in 2013.
It was “pretty epic”, according to Jose Morgado, a tennis journalist for Record, a sports newspaper in Portugal.
Speaking to the Tennis Channel after her first round win, Williams said: “Virgil Abloh designed it and so I was really excited because he’s the hottest designer right now and he’s amazing.
“It’s the second time we’ve worked together. And it has words in it in French. It talks about me being a mum and me being a queen, as all women are. A champion. It’s positive reinforcement for me, and I kind of love that.”