Serena Williams Marks Return to WTA Tour With Debut of Nike Dress Inspired By Classic Design Lines From the 1940's
March 26 2004 - 10:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Serena Williams Marks Return to WTA Tour With Debut of Nike Dress
Inspired By Classic Design Lines From the 1940's MIAMI, March 26
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Serena Williams makes her 2004 WTA Tour
debut Friday at the NASDAQ-100 Open as the tournament's top seed
and two-time defending champion. William's return will mark her
competitive debut since working with Nike and provides a first look
at her custom-designed Nike tennis dress inspired by classic design
lines of the 1940's. (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990818/NIKELOGO ) For its
first collaboration with Serena, Nike created custom apparel
featuring premium performance fabrications specifically designed to
meet her performance needs, while reflecting her sense of style
andglamour. In addition to the dress and satin warm ups, Serena
will wear Nike's new performance footwear, the Air Max Breathe Free
II in a special custom color throughout the tournament. The Air Max
Breathe Free II combines innovative design and materials to create
one of the most breathable, comfortable and durable tennis shoes
for the elite player. "I am excited to return to tennis and I can't
wait to get out there and play," said Serena Williams. "For my
first tournament, I met with Nike and shared some of my ideas and
they were able to design a beautiful custom dress that has a
breathable silver corset and satin skirt and I love it." "We knew
when we started working with Serena we needed to design an ensemble
that delivers the performance benefits Nike is known for, but that
captures Serena's sense of style," said Mindy Grossman, Vice
President of Global Apparel for Nike. "The dress Serena will be
wearing for her debut combines innovative design with glamour and
style inspired by screen legends of the 1940s." Dri-FIT Satin Dress
Like the cover-up, Serena's dress is constructed of a unique satin
blend Dri-FIT fabric, with a breathable stretch silver "corset" and
silver piping for additional fit and support. Dri-FIT Satin
Cover-up Serena will wear an elegant, full-zip Satin Cover-up over
her dress. It is constructed of a unique satin blend Dri-FIT
fabric, with breathable stretch silver "corset" that reflects the
classic design lines of the 1940s. All the innovative materials and
Dri-FIT moisture management technology used to create Serena's
custom apparel can be found in current in-line Nike Tennis apparel.
Still only 22, Serena has won every Grand Slam tournament and holds
a total of 14 Grand Slam titles, including six singles titles.
Serena is also among those rare athletes who transcend the game to
become an inspiration to those beyond the world of sports and into
the world of style and design. About Nike Nike, Inc. based in
Beaverton, Oregon is the world's leading designer, marketer and
distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and
accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities.
Wholly owned Nike subsidiaries include Converse Inc., which
designs, markets and distributes athletic footwear, apparel and
accessories; Bauer NIKE Hockey Inc., a leading designer and
distributor of hockey equipment; Cole Haan(R), which designs,
markets, and distributes fine dress and casual shoes and
accessories; and Hurley International LLC, which designs, markets
and distributes action sports and youth lifestyle footwear, apparel
and accessories.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990818/NIKELOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Nike, Inc. CONTACT: Kellie
Leonard of Nike, +1-503-671-6171, or Web site:
http://www.nikebiz.com/
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