It's fashion week in New York City and the creative juices are on display from the work of students at Academy of Art University to that of Tory Burch and Vera Wang. It is the week where long hours of planning, cutting and sewing are either rewarded with attention or dismissed as folly. Not one designer has a bigger catwalk, bigger live audience and more attention than EleVen's Venus Williams and she's taking advantage of it.
As styled models sashay down skinny runways under tents and in showrooms around the city, Venus as model runs, jumps, stretches and sweats across a tennis court, all eyes and cameras on her. So far she has played in four different tennis outfits all from her EleVen line being sold at Gilt.com. There are more to come.
"I'm having fun with it," said Williams to ESPN2's Hannah Storm last night. "It's all about celebration." And so the latest dress (like the black and red) is adorned with sequined fireworks. We've seen bold graphics, open backs, sheers, varied necklines, black lace, leather fringe, hot pink and body hugging style.
There have been a few malfunctions such as dresses riding way too high during big points but she's taken care to insure that what's underneath is fashionable too. The shorties are decorated with sequins as well. The wind on court has also been a challenge. "The fabric is light and flies when the wind blows," Williams continued smiling. Nothing has slowed her down.
Williams is living her dream, as fashion designer, model, business woman and star tennis player - she's an author too. "I love what I do," she commented to Storm referring to tennis and fashion design. It's all coming together for Venus and she's literally dancing to the music when hitting end-of-match balls into the crowds.
Yeah her outfits are rocking the tennis world and that's what she likes. As a designer to the tennis masses, she's got a few things to work on to make sure some of these new dresses are more user friendly -- that ride up is not working for me. Looking forward to seeing what she wears to the finals if she earns her place there though. Prospects are good.
Click here for a gallery of Venus's US Open Styles courtesy of LIFE.
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