Serena Williams's NYFW Show Was a Love Letter to Strong Women
Serena Williams's New York Fashion Week presentation for HSN Monday afternoon at Kia Style360 in Midtown Manhattan began when the tennis star's recognizable voice reverberated throughout the room.
"She is black / She is brown / She is white / She is green / She is red / Without color / She is woman / I saw her walk / Upright and tall / When she moves / Everyone watches / Her footsteps."
It was the beginning of a long-form spoken word poem--penned by Williams herself--that narrated the duration of the show, interspersed with female-power anthems by artists like Christine and the Queens, M.I.A., Beyonce, and Sia--the latter of which was appropriately titled "The Greatest."
"I wrote it right after Wimbledon and before the Olympics," she told InStyle backstage afterward. "I was feeling empowered, and I wanted people to come to my show and leave with more than a fabulous coat. I definitely want them to leave with the coat, too, but I felt that it was important to pay tribute to what women can do."
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The collection--a 42-piece offering including faux shearling coats, knits, and intricate lace dresses--is priced from $30 to $700 and was immediately shoppable on HSN.com as each look debuted on the runway, taking a cue from last year's "see now, buy now" model recently adopted by Rebecca Minkoff, Tom Ford, and Tommy Hilfiger.
Even though Williams is fresh off a devastating U.S. Open loss, where she surrendered her world number one ranking to her opponent, Angelique Kerber, she didn't seem the least bit deterred. "I'm not going to play tennis forever," she said to a group of reporters. "It's always good to know that if I want to go to the office, I can do that."
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Scroll down to shop three of Williams' pieces, available now at hsn.com.
