Serena Williams made a real fashion statement with her French Open outfit on Monday, one year after angering organizers by wearing a black catsuit to help prevent postpartum blood clots.
The tennis star wore a cape emblazoned with the French words for “champion,” “queen,” “mother” and “goddess” while warming up on court at Roland Garros in Paris ahead of her first-round victory over Russia’s Vitalia Diatchenko.
She removed the cape for the actual game.
Williams had previewed her outfit, which was designed by Virgil Abloh and Nike, on Twitter the day before.
Let the Roland Garros begin. Here is my French Open look designed by @virgilabloh and @Nike. pic.twitter.com/niiyqoI94m
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) May 26, 2019
Williams’ latest on-court fashion choice made waves on social media.
Queen 👸🏽 👑 doing Queen things! https://t.co/SMpAd6OH04
— Secola Edwards (@SecolaEdwards) May 28, 2019
@serenawilliams is everything great about professional sports. Keep on knocking down the barriers, kicking butt on court and pushing fashion in exhilarating directions. #FrenchOpen https://t.co/m1jQlkHmyM
— Doug Moore (@dougwmoore) May 28, 2019
Williams chairs the board of advisers for HuffPost’s parent company, Verizon Media.