Tennis superstar and reigning Wimbledon® Champion Venus Williams adds fashion designer to her long list of accomplishments with the launch of EleVen™, her new clothing, footwear and accessories line, available beginning today at national retailer Steve & Barry’s®. EleVen represents the largest fashion collection ever launched by a female athlete, and features a wide assortment of active lifestyle and performance looks, high performance and casual footwear, accessories, and more. In keeping with Steve & Barry’s mission to offer the highest quality clothing items for the lowest possible price, each item in the EleVen collection is priced at $19.98 and under.

The in-store arrival of the EleVen collection comes just as Williams celebrates another milestone in her life, her graduation from fashion design school. On December 13, she will receive a degree in Fashion Design from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. Williams drew upon her design education and love of fashion when creating EleVen with a dedicated team of Steve & Barry’s designers. She immersed herself in the creation of every piece in the collection.

“I love fashion and the idea that I am using my design education to actually create clothing and footwear that reflects my personality and energy both on and off the court,” said Williams. “My vision was to create a collection that will allow women to easily transition throughout their active lifestyles and still look fashionable. I worked really hard with Steve & Barry’s to launch EleVen and I’m really excited that it’s finally available for women all over the country.”

The partnership between Williams and Steve & Barry’s was announced in August, with Williams wearing key items from the line during her matches at the U.S. Open™. That included her signature “V-Court” high performance sneaker, which retails for just $14.98. While the price point is affordable, the quality of the V-Court is high-end, offering similar construction and styling as many of the most expensive tennis sneakers on the market. Williams will continue to wear the V-Court and other EleVen outfits and accessories on-court in all of her matches.

The EleVen collection, which will be merchandised in a store-within-store environment featuring specially designed fixtures, video documentaries and signage, includes over 120 pieces. These include nine styles of athletic footwear in a wide variety of color ways, track suits, fleece outerwear, street active apparel, graphic t-shirts, puffy down jackets with removable sleeves, denim jackets and jeans, velour items, tote and gym bags, jewelry, sports socks and bras, and more.

Williams said the name EleVen comes from beating your perfect 10. “Why strive for a 10 when you can be an EleVen?” she says.

“We are excited to bring the EleVen collection to our customers in time for the Holiday shopping season,” said Steve & Barry’s President Andy Todd. “Venus Williams represents such fantastic qualities – achievement, fun, style - and EleVen genuinely represents those attributes. We have high hopes for its success for many years to come.”

Williams serves as a global ambassador for UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural ) and proceeds from a specially designed t-shirt that will be part of the EleVen collection will benefit the United Nations agency.

Source: Associated Press