Virgil Abloh Creates Ballerina-Inspired Collection for Serena Williams’ U.S Open Return

Serena Williams is known to step out in style on and off the court. In the past she’s worn many eye catching looks, and just this year she returned to the French Open in May in a head-turning all-black Nike “catsuit” and wore an all-white flounce-skirt dress at Wimbledon in July.

And now, for her upcoming return to the U.S Open (where she’ll compete for her 24th Grand Slam title) the tennis star has recruited Off-White designer and Louis Vuitton artistic director Virgil Abloh to design a custom collection built around Williams’ favorite silhouette: the tennis dress.

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“With Serena, we have one of our generation’s most powerful, inspiring athletes as the muse,” Abloh said in a statement regarding the collection. “I was trying to embody her spirit and bring something compelling and fresh to tennis.”

For The Queen Collection, Abloh reimagined Williams’ most famous competition ensembles, peppering his signature Off-White motifs throughout the collection. Inspired by Williams’ love of dance and ballet, the collection features a white one-shoulder “daytime” dress with a flounce hem, a black “nighttime” dress with a tulle bottom, and a special edition of the NikeCourt Flare 2 sneaker with “Serena” on the outer sole. Other highlights in the collection include a black jacket with white threading and an Abloh-designed Nike Blazer and Air Max 97.

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“What I love about tennis is the gracefulness. It’s an aggressive and powerful game, but it takes touch and finesse,” Abloh added. “So the dress is feminine, but combines her aggression. It’s partially revealing. It’s asymmetrical. It has a sort of ballerina-esque silhouette to symbolize her grace. It’s not about bells and whistles and tricks. It’s just about it living on the body, and expressing Serena’s spirit with each swing of the racket.”

The collection retails from $130 to $900 and will officially will debut when Williams hits the courts at the 50th edition of the US Open in New York in a few weeks.

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