Venus Williams, a four-time Olympic gold medalist and designer, sat down with Racked ahead of the Olympic Games to discuss her design empire, which covers everything from fashion to interior design.
She’s been at the helm of EleVen by Venus since 2007, but she admitted that sometimes it’s still a struggle to be taken seriously as a designer – good thing her favorite pastime is proving doubters wrong.
“It’s interesting. Because people know your name, you can get pigeonholed into being perceived a certain way. And that’s OK,” she told Racked. “People are like, “She’s a great athlete, but does it translate to design?” And actually, it does! They find out about me and the great team we have and you can see the light bulb go off.”
Venus also maintained that she’s still involved in the day-to-day happenings of EleVen, even despite the constant travel required in competing at the highest levels of women’s tennis.
“I was in the office yesterday and we’re working on fall ’17 now, so we’ve started the process of understanding what our color story is, what our prints are,” she explained to Racked. “From there, we start to work with the sales team. What do people really like? What do we want to bring back, and what are the new pieces? We look at colors and prints and actual fabrics. Then it gets refined and refined and refined.
“I also take my sketchbooks on the road and I’m constantly sketching.”
You can see her finished product on the court as she competes for a shot at a medal in the mixed doubles semifinal at the Olympic tennis event in Rio.
But wish you could wear those red, white and blues yourself? The entire ensemble is available at Tennis Warehouse – it even includes Venus’ gold pendant and a certificate of authenticity.
Here it is in action on the four-time gold medalist herself:
Venus also designed a separate outfit for doubles:
Click here to visit Tennis Warehouse and check out more Olympic styles and tennis gear.
Former World No.2 Petra Kvitova announced on Monday morning that she and coach David Kotyza had ended their seven year partnership. Beginning at the start of the 2009 season, Kvitova began her meteoric rise up the rankings with Kotyza at the helm, winning two Wimbledon titles, and a WTA Finals trophy in 2011, the year in which she was one match from finishing at No.1 in the world.
WTA Insider spoke with Kotyza last fall during the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global; check out that interview here – the audio version can be found on the WTA Insider Podcast – and read Kvitova’s statement on Facebook below:
The season behind us offered everything — from tennis fashion extravagance to classic sporty designs, from retro pieces to experiments with modern trends, from neutral colors to vibrant tones. Let’s give the word to our fashion contributor Marija Zivlak of Women’s Tennis Blog and see which outfits are the most memorable from 2016.
1. Serena’s Nike crop tops
In the last two decades, Serena Williams has made a profound mark on tennis fashion with her daring outfits and in her 21st pro season the American continued to push the boundaries.
Williams made a style bang at the first Grand Slam of the season, rocking a vibrant yellow Nike crop top, functionally and aesthetically enhanced by an open hole mesh at back and rounded side vents, and a super lightweight skirt, whose Breathe material gave an additional twist to the all-around pleats.
In Indian Wells and Miami, Williams showcased an omega blue version of the mind-blowing outfit, continuing to show how well crop tops work in tennis fashion.
2. adidas’ zebra print
One of the most memorable collection of the season is definitely Adidas’ Roland Garros “zebra”. Designed by Japanese Yohji Yamamoto, who found inspiration in dazzle painting used for ship camouflage in World War I and World War II, the Y-3 collection was the talk of Roland Garros with its eye-catching black and white print bringing a sense of movement and fluidity.
The fearless designer went for the bold print all the way, so not even the shoes from the collection calmed down the look.
3. Serena’s Wimbledon whites
Brands usually make their designs stand out with busy patterns, but Wimbledon’s all-white clothing rule always forces tennis apparel companies to find ways to create outstanding designs that don’t rely on the power of color and Serena Williams’ Nike dress for the grass-court Grand Slam is a perfect example of how a few well thought-out details can make a simple clothing piece outstanding.
The American’s Wimbledon dress stole our hearts with its elegant half turtleneck, flirty tiered pleated skirt and classic sporty racerback.
4. Venus’ EleVen Prism collection
Venus Williams likes to challenge her competition with prints and her Prism collection for the US Open was the most beautiful colorful design of the year. Introducing fall, the EleVen Prism Chela Dress features the season’s cool tones, but vibrant colors of summer are also there to lift our spirits for a tough match or training.
5. adidas’ US Open geometric prints
Adidas closed the season with what is in my opinion an overall best collection of 2016, inspired by the New York City skyscrapers. The collection’s main features include the triangular print, a perfect ratio of bright colors to cooler tones, and specific racerback design. What adidas did with absolute success here is offer a lot of variety, with the collection’s leitmotifs present in every clothing item.
Angelique Kerber climbed to the world number one ranking at the US Open wearing the adidas Fall Pro Tank in flash red and the adidas Fall Pro Skirt, whose geometric print represents the world’s most famous cityscape.
Simona Halep paired a tech steel version of the adidas Fall Pro Tank with the adidas Fall Pro Short, whose white mesh layer makes it the most spectacular tennis shorts we’ve had in recent years.
Ana Ivanovic rocked this gorgeous adidas Fall Pro Dress, which stands out with the way its colorblock racerback design is executed.
6. Stella McCartney’s soft color palette
The season’s best tennis clothes in pale colors were from Stella McCartney’s summer collection. Soft yellow and lilac, subtle floral print and hexagon-shaped laser-cut details characterize the separates sported by Andrea Petkovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Garbine Muguruza. Another lovely item from the collection is the adidas Summer Stella McCartney Tour Dress promoted by Wozniacki.
7. New Balance’s vibrant sportiness
The best youthful sporty look of the season included the New Balance Spring Tournament Tank, unique for its spaghetti straps with an Y-back, matched with the New Balance Spring Reversible Skirt or the New Balance Spring Tournament Skirt. Heather Watson and Nicole Gibbs energized the courts with their juicy orange combined with azalea.
8. Fila’s Heritage collection
Fila was very prolific in 2016 and they even launched a colorful collaboration with Marion Bartoli, but their best collection happened late in the season, at the US Open, featuring Jelena Jankovic’s and Yaroslava Shvedova’s Fila Heritage Stripe Dress, a harmonious marriage between modern blurred stripes and retro feel brought by the simple cut and red head tie.
Karolina Pliskova made her first Grand Slam final in the basic Fila Heritage Racerback Tank and the Fila Heritage Skirt.
CINCINNATI, OH, USA – One of the biggest events of the US hardcourt swing begins in full force on Monday. It’s the Western & Southern Open from Cincinnati and we’re previewing Day 1’s enticing match-ups on wtatennis.com.
Monday,First Round
Center Court Sara Errani (ITA #32) vs. CoCo Vandeweghe (USA #33) Head-to-head:Errani leads, 1-0 Key Stat: Monday’s winner faces fourth-seeded Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round.
American CoCo Vandeweghe will try to continue the momentum she built during the grass court season when she faces Italy’s Sara Errani on Center Court at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on Monday. It won’t be easy. Vandeweghe has won 12 of her last 15 WTA-level matches, but she has only played two matches since Wimbledon, winning one and losing one at Stanford. Vandeweghe will have to hit the mark early and often to avoid getting dragged into too many protracted rallies against the super-fit World No.24 from Bologna. It was Errani who won the only career meeting between the two at Wimbledon, but that was just over four years ago and the 24-year-old Vandeweghe has evolved since then, particularly after pairing with coach Craig Kardon last season. Errani reached the round of 16 at the Olympics, but she has only managed a 7-9 record against the Top 50 this season.
Pick: Errani in three
Ana Ivanovic (SRB #25) vs. [Q] Donna Vekic (CRO #121) Head-to-head:Ivanovic leads, 1-0 Key Stat: Ivanovic has won seven of her last nine matches at Cincinnati, losing only to Serena Williams.
It has been a fantastic year on a personal level for former World No.1 Ana Ivanovic, marrying German footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger this July, but in order to make it a fantastic year professionally Ivanovic requires a summer resurgence on the US hard courts. After dropping a three-setter to Carla Suárez Navarro at the Olympics the Serb has now lost three straight and is barely hovering above the .500 mark for the season at 15-14. The 2014 Western & Southern Open runner-up will open up with a winnable contest against 20-year-old Croatian Donna Vekic. Long on promise, the former World No.62 has struggled to string together victories and will make her Cincinnati debut in the midst of a nine-match WTA-level losing streak.
Pick: Ivanovic in two
Grandstand Caroline Garcia (FRA #30) vs. [Q] Daria Gavrilova (AUS #47) Head-to-head: Gavrilova leads, 1-0 Key Stat: Garcia recorded her only career Top 5 win at Cincinnati last season.
A pair of highly-touted 22-year-olds will clash for the first time in a WTA main draw – they met five years ago on the ITF Circuit – on Monday in Cincinnati, as Caroline Garcia and Daria Gavrilova are set to lock horns in the second match on Grandstand. Garcia has lost four of six since winning her first career grass court title at Mallorca, but she is back at the scene of her first career Top 5 win, which came last season over Petra Kvitova during a quarterfinal run here at Cincinnati. The Frenchwoman doesn’t lack for talent, but consistency has been a limiting factor ever since she cracked the WTA’s Top 50 a little over two years ago. The same could be said about her opponent of late. Gavrilova’s breakout season came in 2015, and she’s done a solid job of maintaining a Top 50 ranking this season, but she has managed only two quarterfinals in 15 events this campaign.
Pick: Gavrilova in three
By the numbers… 400 – Both Andrea Petkovic and Lucie Safarova have a shot at winning their 400th WTA match at Cincinnati this week. 19 – The age of Jelena Ostapenko, the youngest player in this year’s draw. The Latvian will face Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Grandstand on Monday. 0 – Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza is appearing at Cincinnati for the third time but is still searching for her first victory. She will face the winner of Vandeweghe versus Errani after a first-round bye.
The 2015 US Open champion Flavia Pennetta revealed on Twitter that she is expecting her first child with husband Fabio Fognini. See the message right here!
WTA Insider | On the latest WTA Insider Live Blog, all of the top seeds are on the schedule to take Cincinnati by storm after a rainy Tuesday at the Western & Southern Open.
KAOHSUING, Taiwan – Misaki Doi’s finally roused her slumbering campaign to life on Monday with a straight set win over Kristyna Pliskova at the Taiwan Open.
Watch live action from St. Petersburg & Kaohsiung this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!
A miserable start to 2016 saw Doi fall at the first hurdle in Auckland, Hobart and finally the Australian Open. The third and final of these defeats Down Under was particularly galling, Doi holding a match point against eventual champion Angelique Kerber in the first round of the Australian Open.
Perhaps buoyed by Kerber’s subsequent heroics at Melbourne Park, Doi came out with a spring in her step against Pliskova, breaking serve twice to take the first set. She repeated the trick in the second set to wrap up a 6-3, 6-4 victory in little over an hour.
Also advancing in the bottom half of the draw was qualifier Yuxuan Zhang, a 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-2 winner over lucky loser Hiroko Kuwata.
Meanwhile, in the top half there were wins for Urszula Radwanska and Anastasija Sevastova.
Radwanska was given a stern examination by local wildcard Hsu Ching-Wen, before coming through, 6-4, 7-6(1). Sevastova was pushed even harder, fighting back to see off Kristina Kucova, 4-6, 7-6(0), 7-6(3), in a match lasting nearly two and a half hours.
Tuesday will see most of the remaining seeds, including home favorite Hsieh Su-Wei, in first round action. The only exception is top seed Venus Williams, who will wait until Wednesday to get her challenge underway against Lee Pei-Chi.
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