In 2019, Nike and Serena Williams partnered to launch the Serena Williams Design Crew (SWDC), an unrivaled apprenticeship program that would design a collection for the tennis legend while simultaneously amplifying diverse voices at the company. After six months under the leadership of Williams and at Nike’s Ohio headquarters, the 10 designers are finally ready to unveil the Serena-inspired women’s performance and lifestyle collection of footwear, apparel and accessories on September 1.
“The future of sport is creative, inclusive and unlimited in possibility—everyone is invited to play,” Williams, who is notably a stalwart of inclusivity, says via Forbes. “My partnership with Nike on the Serena Williams Design Crew builds on that same spirit of inclusivity and extends into design—at Nike, across the industry and around the world. There’s so much incredible talent out there; I hope the next generation sees this program and is inspired to get involved.”
The 17-piece collection details the intimate facets of William’s life as it incorporates her daughter’s OO initials (a double meaning for the love-love score in tennis), the hidden S emblem in its West African Kente cloth-inspired prints, and her 23 Grand Slam titles. While the apprentices were given creative control to explore design angles for the long-awaited collection, Williams remained hands-on throughout the entire process.
“When you talk about her being involved in every part of the process — even her design vocabulary is sharp,” Tania Flynn, Nike’s VP of Women’s Apparel Product Design, said. “She’s like, ‘We don’t have enough silhouette differentiation. Can we go back and think about something else?’ That shows where her head is at, how invested she is in the success of the team and the line.”
According to Nike’s post-apprenticeship hiring, SWDC has ultimately fulfilled mission of propelling designers of underrepresented communities into an oft-insular space. As of late, seven of the inaugural 10 SWDC designers are now full-time employees at Nike HQ. The program is also now an annual collective with its 2021 cohort of 11 designers already prepping for their forthcoming 2022 release.
