Serena Williams stepped out for the front row of the Balmain show in full boss mode just one day after announcing her early-stage venture capital firm, Serena Ventures, has raised $111 million.
The tennis great had long been working on the venture behind the scenes before Tuesday’s big news, she told WWD.
“I feel like I’ve had a secret for four years,” she said. “I’ve been investing for nine years so it’s something I’ve been doing for a really long time, and I’ve been building this team for over four years, so this is nothing new, but it’s good to finally tell the world about it.”
The fund is geared toward diversity and investing in female entrepreneurs, and will focus on crypto, web3 and fintech for women, she said. “It’s really interesting because less than 2 percent of all VC money goes to women — that number went up to like 3 or 4 percent — but still that number is still really shocking. It’s insane. So I started that thinking, ‘Wow, I have to work with women like me, that look like me, and just women in general to change to be able to write big checks.”
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It’s fitting then that she was wearing green, courtesy of Balmain designer Olivier Rousteing, who encouraged her to experiment with the color. “I thought it was a vibe,” she said of finally seeing her first Balmain show while taking time off the tennis circuit. “We’ve been missing each other because every time I wanted to come to a show I was working so it’s always so hard, so for years I’ve been like, ‘Oh it’s right during the season,’ so finally I’m on injury, so I had time.”
The front row was filled out with “Emily in Paris” star Camille Razat, who fell in love at first sight with her sculptural white top. “I go in the fitting room and I’m like, ‘That’s it.’ I pointed at it from across the room,” she said of the audacious style. The Netflix star had no criticism for the scores of fans who have descended up on the city in red berets to emulate the titular Emily. “Even my self, I love berets. I wear them,” she said.
Foregoing a fist bump, a friendly Jaime Xie went in for a handshake only to be weighed down by her heavy chained coat. “My arms are a little difficult to get out,” said the “Bling Empire” star of the Balmain creation. “It’s a workout, but you’ve gotta suffer for fashion. I think it’s about 40 pounds, almost half of what I weigh.” While the reality show cast was in town shooting during haute couture week in January, most of the filming for the second season is complete and she’s just happy to be enjoying fashion week with no cameras in tow.
Rousteing put on a rousing show, opening with a dance troupe set against a screen that displayed quotes from “The Little Prince,” and a 75-look collection.