Tonight on the 2024 Met Gala, Serena Williams proved as soon as once more that she’s as a lot of a drive on the famed Met steps as she is on the tennis court docket.
Over time, the tennis star has marked the primary Monday in Could with numerous standout seems—from a dramatic ombré feather cape and jumpsuit in 2021, to final 12 months’s floor-length black robe. This time round, Williams collaborated with Balenciaga on a gown impressed by look 52 from the home’s 51st couture assortment—introduced in 2022 and echoing items from the Balenciaga archives. Creating the robe was no small feat: The atelier devoted 150 hours to pattern-making and crafted the couture piece from 25 meters of gold foil-laminated taffeta sourced from Italy.
Picture: Courtesy of Balençiaga
Picture: Courtesy of Archives Balenciaga Paris
“It’s really been an honor to collaborate with the gifted Balenciaga workforce on such a memorable and glamorous piece,” Williams tells Vogue of the gown, which options an ethereal sash that varieties a prepare. “This robe represents a collective effort to create one thing really extraordinary, and I’m immensely proud to be the one to showcase it.”
Styled by Kesha McLeod, Williams accessorized with black gloves and Messika jewlery. In line with “The Backyard of Time” gown code, she wore an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watch. “I really like how the sand gold colour performs off my gown and the way its tone modifications relying on the angle and lightweight,” she says. Hairstylist Angela Meadows adorned Williams’s lengthy, blonde hair with a gilded floral hair accent by Lelet NY. When it got here to magnificence, make-up artist Renny Vasquez reached for WYN, the model Williams based earlier this 12 months. The 2 settled on a glance marked by shimmery eyes and a matte lip.
For Williams, who has spent a lot of her grownup life attending high-profile occasions, the Met Gala is especially significant. “Attending the Met Gala whereas pregnant with Olympia in 2017—and simply final 12 months with Adira—will at all times maintain a particular place in my coronary heart,” she says. “Embracing my being pregnant on the crimson carpet allowed me to really feel empowered and radiant, whereas sharing the great thing about motherhood. I additionally simply like to suppose that each my women have been with me to the Met Gala!”
Forward, a have a look at how Williams obtained prepared for the 2024 Met Gala.
