Serena Williams named fashion icon by the Council of Fashion Designers of America

Tennis star Serena Williams has been namedthe fashion icon by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. The organisation awarded Williams at a ceremony in New York on Monday night. Williams is the first athlete to win the award. Previous recipients include artists like Beyonce, Zendaya and Rihanna.

"I explored fashion and style as a way to distinguish myself," Williams told the media at the event. "In many ways for me, the tennis courts became my runway."

The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion walked the red carpet at the American Museum of Natural History, dressed in a bespoke black sequin dress designed by CFDA Chairman Thom Browne.

The event is considered as fashion industry's equivalent of the Oscars. Williams was presented the 2023 CFDA Fashion Icon Award by fashion mogul and television star Kim Kardashian.

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The audience included big names like Anne Hathaway, Gwyneth Paltrow and Demi Moore and singers Mary J Blige and Vanessa Hudgens.

In her acceptance speech, Williams spoke of her love for fashion and its role on the tennis court.

"I designed skirts out of denim and I wore purple tutus and bodysuits and put beads in my hair, and braids," she said. "It was really just a fun time for me."

Williams has been a student of fashion and attended fashion school between Grand Slams - and in 2018, launched her S by Serena clothing line.

In 2019, Williams told Essence magazine that her clothes "represent women everywhere - indomitable mothers, daughters and sisters; resilient businesswomen and entrepreneurs; outsiders and underdogs; little girls with crazy dreams and unflinching women of colour".

Williams, 42, retired in 2022 in New York at the US Open after a glorious 27-year-long career at the court. She had warned that "I am not retired", and "the chances (of a return) are very high".

On Monday, at the awards ceremony, Williams thanked several people but saved the last one for her mother. "Watching her sew created this creativity in me that I still have to this day," Williams said.