ESSENCE: In one of your S by Serena ads last
spring you featured ESSENCE staffer Danielle
Young. She’s a proud advocate for body posi-
tivity and we were all ecstatic you chose her.
WILLIAMS: We want to be inclusive. We have an
extended size, and we call it great because I
don’t like the word “plus.” So we call it S Great
because every woman is great. Hopefully the
word “great” will catch on and people will get rid
of the word “plus.”
ESSENCE: Who is your style icon? Do you have
different personas you tap into when you’re
getting dressed for red carpets, for the courts
or for meetings with Serena Ventures?
WILLIAMS: Well, my style is confidence. Some-
times I might not be feeling confident, and I’ll step
into my closet and say, “Okay, I need to wear
something sexy that makes me feel confident.”
Sometimes sporty makes me feel confident. So it
just depends on the moment. But I always dress
for confidence because I feel like people read you,
and if you’re confident, they’ll treat you as such.
ESSENCE: Will you be continuing collabora-
tions with Virgil Abloh? [He has designed
Williams’s Grand Slam tennis outfits for Nike’s
The Queen Collection. He’s the artistic director
for Louis Vuitton’s menswear and CEO of Off-
White, a Milan-based house.]
WILLIAMS: We hope so. We’ve had so many fun
collaborations already. When I talk with Virgil, I’m
like, “We need to do one more really, really big
thing.” We’ll see who that will be with. Hopefully
My style is
confidence. People
read you, and if you
are confident, they will
treat you as such.”
with Nike. If not, maybe I’ll do something with his
brand or even something with my brand. We
definitely want to continue, because we work really
well together. He’s so cool and so creative. I
could talk to him for hours about how to build a
brand and how to be successful at it. I love what
he stands for, and I love how he designs.ESSENCE: Is there anything Virgil has taught
you that has informed you as a designer?
WILLIAMS: Yeah, definitely taking chances and
letting fashion do the talking is something that
I’ve learned from him. We actually had an even
bigger collaboration for this year’s French Open.
I was like, “This is just too big. This is too awe-
some.” I kind of pushed back on it, and afterward
I met with him, and I was like, “Listen. I should
have taken your advice and gone for it.” I was
really upset. It was already a big moment, but it
could have been even crazier. But I was a little bit
nervous, as you can imagine.ESSENCE: Well, I can’t imagine because you’re
such a boss on the court. But you’re human too.
WILLIAMS: Exactly, but I think it shows how
human we all are. No one ever really sees or
hears about those moments. But I did feel like,
after that you can always dial it back, but you can
never dial it up when it’s already done. Even if you
design something and it’s too much, you can
always tone it down. But if it’s too little, it’s hard to
dial it up. I felt like that was a great lesson for me.ESSENCE: Five years ago you launched your
investment firm, Serena Ventures. A few
companies you’ve funded: MasterClass,
which offers online courses; Wave, a money
transfer service in Africa; and Ollie, a dog
food delivery service. What’s the one thing
you look for in companies you want to seed?
WILLIAMS: Does it affect the world in a positive
way? That’s the one thing that we always look
for. And if the answer to that is yes, then we look
deeper into it.ESSENCE: Have any of the companies that
you’ve seeded impacted how you improve S by
Serena? Have you taken some best practices?
WILLIAMS: Well, yeah. It’s interesting because I
feel like I learn a lot from the companies we work
with, like Mayvenn, which is a hair company. I’m just
really inspired by how they run their day-to-day,
and it’s actually a tool for me to learn how to do
better in my business as well. »On Serena: a Láolú^ x^ Jane^ Michael^ kimono,^
Caroline Herrera gown, Lorraine^ West^ earrings^
and Giuseppe^ Zanotti^ heels.^ On^ left^ hand:^ a^ Diaboli^
Kill by Angie Marei^ ring,^ Lorraine^ West^ ring,^
Bakti ring and Ileana^ Makri^ ring.^ On^ right^ hand:^
a Lorraine^ West^ ring^ and^ Catbird^ ring.^
ESSENCE.COM I 115 I SEPTEMBER 2019