Mother. Champion. Queen.

A graphic two-piece, with a message that extended well beyond the baseline.

Athlete: Serena Williams
Tournament: Roland-Garros
Date: 27 May 2019
Design: Nike × Virgil Abloh
Documented round: First roundSingles
Match result: Wonvs Vitalia Diatchenko
Tournament finish: 3RSingles

The original look

Serena Williams in her black-and-white printed two-piece at the 2019 French Open.

Adam Pretty / Getty Images · Via Fashionista · Editorial reference; public reuse permission has not been obtained.

View original photograph & source ↗

The story behind the look

Williams returned to Roland-Garros in a black-and-white performance two-piece designed with Virgil Abloh for Nike. A matching cape carried French words describing her as a mother, champion, queen and goddess.

Following the debate around her 2018 catsuit, this collaboration foregrounded Williams’s own account of who she was. She described the words as positive reinforcement. The garment reconstruction shows the competition separates, without the entrance cape.