Serena Williams has met her style match!
The famed tennis player revealed that her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., is a fashionista in-the-making. Considering Serena is known for her killer lewks on and off the red carpet, it’s no surprise that her baby girl would follow in her famous mother’s footsteps.
On Wednesday, the 38-year-old star spoke to E! News ahead of her S by Serena show during New York Fashion Week. “We’ve been working on this for a long time,” she shared. “So we’re ready, it feels good.”
In addition to giving us all the details about her spring collection, which is already available on the site, she opened up about her daughter’s love for all things dresses and her personal style hero.
“I can’t force her out of a princess dress,” she told E! News’ Zanna Roberts Rassi about her little nugget. “She gets so upset. She loves fashion, she loves wearing dresses and that’s what she wants to do.”
Serena also opened up about her newest collection, which is chock-full of fun prints, flattering silhouettes and flirty designs.
For the tennis legend, her latest line isn’t anything like her last, which hit the runway last September.
She explained this time around, her designs were all about “experimenting” with fabrics, structures and more. Because, as she put it, “there’s always evolving in the collection.”
“I would say each collection is different. This one… we’re using different fabrics, we’re experimenting with vegan leather, we’re thinking about lots of more sustainability, and issues that’s really important to me,” she shared. “We’re still dabbling a little bit in sequins [and] we’re still experimenting with shoulder pads. I’m obviously obsessed with it.”
Ahead of her runway show and during a fireside chat with Anna Wintour, the tennis legend donned her “vegan leather maxi coat.”
When asked her her style hero is, Serena named none other than Jennifer Lopez.
“I think right now, you can’t think of style and not think of Jennifer Lopez,” she expressed. “She’s just a little bit ridiculous and beyond amazing. She’s always been stylish. I mean, I can’t wait to be her age because I want to look like that.”
It’s safe to say you can exude those J.Lo and Serena vibes with her spring offerings. There’s power pantsuits, animal print dresses and so much more. You can shop the latest and greatest on S by Serena.
Serena Williams: My heroes are mothers
Serena Williams’ “heroes” are mothers.
The 38-year-old tennis star is mother to two-year-old daughter Alexis Olympia – whom she has with her husband Alexis Ohanian – and has said motherhood has made her realize who the real “heroes” in the world are, as she can’t believe the amount of work that goes into raising a child.
She said: “My heroes have changed after having a child. My heroes are moms because women are superheroes. To have a baby and then have to go to work two or three weeks later or work a 9 to 5 … I’m fortunate to not have to do that.”
The sports star wants women to be “recognized” for their hard work, especially those who work full time whilst also raising young children.
She added: “I’m at a loss for words when I think of women who work day in and day out, providing for their families, when I know how hard it is for me to leave my daughter. I never felt that way until I became a mom. I think women need to be recognized.”
And whilst being a mother is “important” to Serena, she also wants to show her daughter her career achievements, so Olympia can be “inspired” by her.
Speaking to Anna Wintour for TIME, she said: “Being a mom is super important, but also being a leader so my daughter can look at me and say, ‘This is what my mom did.’ I aspire to do that and I want to be better. It’s really important to me to inspire the next generation because that’s what the future is.”
Meanwhile, Serena recently gushed over her daughter’s first word, as she revealed it was “momma”.
She explained: “Everything at this phase is new.
“She is learning to put her own shoes on which is such a big milestone for me because before I had to do it and now I can tell her to do it herself.
“She is starting to talk, and they don’t really speak until they are two.
“So she is starting to talk and is learning new words and phrases.
“She’s understanding phonetics and is repeating what we are saying – her first word was ‘momma!’ “
