Williams, the winner of seven Grand Slam singles tournaments, held center court Monday at the Town Tennis Club on East 56th Street, where she hit tennis balls with eager press members who wanted to try out their “weekend warrior” forehands and backhands on her. Williams, 31, couldn’t have been more gracious. Dressed in her new EleVen by Venus Williams tennis dress, she was poised, friendly and even took it easy on a reporter who likes to think she has pretty good strokes. Even though she was no match for Williams, she did let her win a point.
Williams was in New York to launch her new tenniswear collection. Coming straight from a practice herself, she had to borrow silver dangling earrings from her sister Isha to get ready for the press event. Williams is working with a manufacturing partner, Ugo Capasso, and is producing the collection in Los Angeles.
“She’s fully involved in the design, which makes it easy for us,” said Capasso, who has already begun selling to country clubs and has received reorders. This week, they shipped to the Tennis Warehouse, a large online tennis retailer. EleVen will offer three small capsules this year, and next spring, the line will be three times the size, said Capasso. Distribution will be expanded to department and specialty stores and more pro shops.
Known for her fashion sense on and off the court, Williams is serious about developing an active sportswear business. This is her second attempt to develop a collection. In 2007, she founded EleVen exclusively for Steve & Barry’s, the apparel chain that went into liquidation in 2008. She went on to do a partnership with Ralph Lauren and designed some tennis pieces for Gilt Groupe.
She said the relaunched EleVen collection isn’t inspired by the latest trends, but rather comes from deep within herself. “It was inspired by inside of me. For me, it’s about how do I see it, as opposed to what’s the latest design. If something is a good design, people will relate to it,” said Williams, who has an associate degree in fashion design from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale.
Williams explained that when a consumer gets dressed in ready-to-wear, she gets to choose the designer, fabric and style she wants to wear. But in sports apparel, she is not able to do that. A consumer has to wear whatever that sport requires. “EleVen allows you to be fashionable or less fashionable. Your personality comes out,” she said.
Williams, at 6 feet 1 inch, has always had a philosophy, “Look good, play well,” and she said if you don’t look good on the court, your game is going to be affected.
Throughout her tennis career, Williams has experimented with different looks on the court, to varying degrees of success. “I was wearing lace and fringe and experimented with how far I could go on the tennis court and still play without thinking about what I was wearing. Those experiments are over,” she said.
For her own line — which features strong, simple and classic designs — she brings her love of art and watercolor and even incorporates some of her original prints, including one called the “Oh and Oh” design, a play on tennis scores. Some of the styles have secret, handwritten messages from Williams such as “Bring It,” and “Oh and Oh, Beat ’Em,” which are hidden in each piece of the collection.
Williams recalled when she started designing the dresses, she had to sketch 12 dresses before one was OK. But for the “Oh and Oh” tournament dress, she did only one sketch. She loved it and ran it by her 30-year-old sister Serena. “I asked her, ‘Do you like this?’ She loved it and wanted to know when it was coming out. She’s my muse,” said Williams.
Recently, she wore the “Oh and Oh” abstract top to a charity dinner with heels and jeans. “You can mix and match them. You can work out in some of them,” she said. She plans to expand to a lifestyle line in 2013. “Right now it’s just a sneak peak of it all. It’s my mind and my philosophy coming out in clothes,” she said. “This is just the beginning. It’s important to have calculated growth. You have to be strategic.”
EleVen includes a tournament dress, classic flutter skirts, tanks and sports bras in polyester and spandex jersey, as well as graphic V-necked T-shirts in 100 percent cotton jersey. For men, there are fashion polos, V-necks and crewnecks in nylon and spandex, as well as 100 percent cotton. The line, which wholesales from $17 to $48, features graphic prints, abstract prints and rose-gold metal accents. While she doesn’t have a footwear line yet, she said someday she would like to design sneakers under the EleVen label. “That would be awesome. Now I wear whatever matches the outfit,” she said.
source: WWD
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