On Tuesday, ace tennis player Serena Williams grabbed worldwide attention for two things – one for beating Kristya Pliskova at the French Open at Stade Roland Garros, Paris, and second for wearing an amazing black catsuit. What is so special about the second one? That it’s not just a fashion statement.
The catsuit held a very important message. The full-length, skintight outfit was designed to protect against blood clots, which she suffered from after her pregnancy, and through the suit, Williams wanted to send a message about the importance of self-worth.
Serena called the suit fun and functional. She told The Guardian, “I had a lot of problems with my blood clots, and, God, I don’t know how many I have had in the past 12 months. So it (catsuit) is definitely a little functionality to it.” She further added, “I have been wearing pants in general a lot when I play, so I can keep the blood circulation going. It’s a fun suit but it’s also functional, so I can be able to play without any problems.”
Talking more about the suit, she said, “It feels like this suit represents all the women that have been through a lot mentally, physically, with their body to come back and have confidence and to believe in themselves.” She added, “I definitely feel like it is an opportunity for me to inspire a whole different group of amazing women and kids.”
The French Open was her first game, after about nine months, after giving birth to a daughter. And with the first-round victory at Roland Garros, she felt like a superhero.
“I call it, like, my Wakanda-inspired catsuit,” said Williams. Although the catsuit looks like an inspiration from the recently-released superhit superhero movie Black Panther, it was actually designed before the movie. But because of the resemblance with the ideology and strong characters of the movie, Serena calls it her ‘Wakanda-Inspired’ catsuit. “We designed it way before the movie,” she said, “but still, it kind of reminds me of that.”
However, the suit did its job well. Williams said she feels “like a warrior princess, kind of” when she wears the outfit. She added. “I always wanted to be a superhero and it’s kind of my way of being a superhero.”
Returning to the sport after delivery required her to work a lot on getting back the same level of strength. According to Scroll, she said, “Well, first and foremost, you have to get your core back, which is hard, because it literally spreads when you have a baby. That’s difficult. And just coming back from the physical impact of having a baby, at my age is never easy. I actually breast fed for a really, really, really long time, and so I just had this real connection with my daughter. But I’m a super hands-on mom. Maybe too much!”