Serena Williams Unveils Her First Nike Range By Her Design Course Apprentices
Image via Nike
Nike collaborative mainstay and tennis extraordinaire Serena Williams has announced her latest collection of apparel and footwear. This time around, she’s not the star—her design apprentices are.
Back in 2019, Williams and Nike banded together to launch a design apprenticeship. Called the Serena Williams Design Crew, it began with a pool of 40 up-and-coming designers from underrepresented backgrounds, shortlisted to 10 with the help of New York fashion schools, Harlem’s Fashion Row, and Nike personnel.
The scouted creators would spend the next seven months designing gear inspired by the professional tennis player at the Nike headquarters in Oregon.
“Be very creative, think outside the box, and don’t be afraid to just do something extremely innovative, because that’s what design is all about,” Williams encouraged the emerging designers then. Now, the first of the Serena Williams Design Crew (SWDC) collection is here—and it’s approved by Williams to be very creative and extremely innovative, indeed.
Elements of Williams’ journey can be found in the range’s bodysuits, tank dresses, jumpsuits, sneakers, and more—from the tape displaying every year of her grand slam wins to prints nodding at West African Kente fabric with repeating zigzag ‘S’ monograms and one-shoulder pieces flaunting the serving arm. “They took it to a place where I could never have seen it,” Williams told Vogue. She added, “It’s definitely different—but it’s also very wearable. I think that’s also really important.”
Image via Nike
The unique footwear sporting Nike Court Legacy, Air Max Koko, and RYZ 365 2 silhouettes, are mostly the visions of the young designers manifested. “When it came to the shoes, I really relied on the designers,” Williams told the fashion magazine. “I said, ‘I need you all to lead me because I’m the person that likes to wear the shoes; I’m not a shoe designer at all.’”
Image via Nike
Image via Nike
The collection undoubtedly honors Williams’ style and success story, but it also takes a step back to let designers of the Serena Williams Design Crew shine.
Even before the range’s debut, the partnership has already done great things. Seven out of 10 apprentices have been hired by Nike as full-time employees, while the other three “are actually in the fashion industry” and have earned “tangible experience” from being a part of the crew, said Jarvis Sam, vice president of global diversity and inclusion at Nike.
With the first edition of SWDC debuting on September 1, the program’s second cohort is already working on the next collection. The course is now opening registrations for the third. Preview the inaugural selection and find out more here.
Image via Nike
Video via Nike
Image via Nike
Image via Nike
Image via Nike
Image via Nike
Image via Nike
Image via Nike
Image via Nike
[via Vogue, videos and images via Nike]
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