When Serena Williams returned to tennis for the French Open after giving birth to her daughter, she did so in an ultimate power suit, a black Nike cat
When Serena Williams returned to tennis for the French Open after giving birth to her daughter, she did so in an ultimate power suit, a black Nike cat suit. Unfortunately, the French Tennis Federation are apparently not fans of the outfit.
Bernard Giudicelli, the president of the French Tennis Federation, told Tennis magazine her catsuit was specifically a problem. “It will no longer be accepted. One must respect the game and the place. I think that sometimes we’ve gone too far.”
Williams’ suit was more than a fashion moment, though. It had potentially live-saving functionality. As a full-body compression garment, it was made to help with blood clots, a health issue she’s dealt with frequently in the past. At one point, a pulmonary embolism in her lung left her on the sidelines for a year.
“They told me I had several blood clots in both lungs. A lot of people die from that,” she had said in an interview in 2011. And when she was giving birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia, last year, she had a pulmonary embolism and her knowledge of her history with blood clots helped her advocate for herself when doctors and nurses ignored her.
“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 is definitely a little functionality to it,” Williams said of the suit. “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.”
Giudicelli said the rules won’t be as strict as Wimbledon, which makes everyone wear white, but they will be asking designers to give them an advance look at designs for players and will impose certain limits.
It’s just the latest example of Williams being singled out and shamed for her outfits and by extension, her body. And this one seems particularly egregious given the health risks at stake.
Meanwhile, sports giant, Nike who designed the cat suit has responded to the French Open’s decision to ban the catsuit, saying, “You can take the superhero out of her costume, but you can never take away her superpowers. #justdoit
