And ultimately, Nike hopes that it could help attract new generations of consumers from a wide range of backgrounds.
Last year, current and former Nike employees started an Instagram account called Black at Nike for sharing their experiences with racial discrimination within the organization.Ī program such as the Serena Williams Design Crew could help Nike bolster its image as a company that hires diverse talent and supports Black employees. But it has also faced allegations of racism from within its own ranks. The company has actively supported athletes who have used their platform to elevate the Black Lives Matter movement, such as former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Nike, for its part, has been criticized for its treatment of workers of color. “I didn’t get picked,” she says with a laugh. “Can you imagine what it means for a young designer to work within Nike’s world-renowned design organization? For me as a designer, it would be legit the best place to work.” (Williams says she snuck her own design portfolio into the pile of applications. “This program responds to the opportunity to increase diversity across the design industry,” Williams says. Throughout these experiences, she saw firsthand how hard it is for aspiring Black designers to break into the fashion industry. And in 2018, she launched her own fashion line, called S by Serena. From 2000 to 2003, while still maintaining her tennis career, she attended the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale to study fashion design. While Williams is best known for her athletic achievements, she has always had a keen interest in fashion design. Over the past three years, the fashion media has documented the racial disparities in the fashion world, but change has been slow to come. The fashion industry is notoriously exclusionary toward Black designers: Fewer than 10% of fashion designers at New York Fashion Week are Black, and fewer than 5% of members on the Council of Fashion Designers of America, a prestigious trade group, are Black. From its colorful jumpsuits to asymmetrical body suits, this bold collection is just the first to acknowledge that inclusivity has to start with who’s actually designing the pieces-not just who they’re being designed for. It’s inspired by ’90s looks that influenced Williams’s aesthetic sensibilities and reflects her own history and personality. This cohort worked closely with Nike designers to create Williams’s newest collection, which launches this fall. Williams helped pick 10 talented designers from New York who were invited to apprentice at Nike for six months starting in January 2020. Most recently, she invested a seven-figure sum in sports marketing technology startup OpenSponsorship.Serena Williams Two years ago, Williams proposed that Nike launch a design apprenticeship program-the Serena Williams Design Crew-to bring on young designers from communities of color to help design pieces for her collection. Williams, who was a seed investor in Let’s Do This, has interests in several technology through her own venture capital firm. Thanks to the funding and support from our investors, we plan to extend into further verticals in the live events and experiences space.†“Excitingly, sport is just the beginning for Let’s Do This too. €œThe global sports endurance market is worth an estimated US$18 billion and, with face-to-face events finally a possibility again after a long hiatus, we know this is only set to grow,†Browne is quoted as saying. Its algorithms analyse data from third-party fitness tracking applications, race history, and social connections to personalise recommendations that help its five million users find an event that appeals to them. Let’s Do this was founded in 2016 by Alex Rose and Sam Browne to help amateur athletes find running, triathlon, cycling, swimming and other endurance events.
Serena Williams’ venture fund invests seven-figure sum into OpenSponsorship