Serena Williams Ditches Her Curls for Blonde Waves at SI's Fashionable 50 Event  

Serena Williams stuns with blonde hair at a Sports Illustrated event celebrating her latest cover for the publication's Fashionable 50 issue. The tennis champ also opens up about her fashion-forward outlook inside the pages of the annual issue.

Serena Williams graced the cover of this year’s Fashionable 50 issue of Sports Illustrated so she made sure her appearance at the launch event proved she was worthy of the honor. Not only did she show up looking fashionably good, she also rocked blonde hair.

GOLDEN GIRL

Serena didn’t disappoint when she traded her naturally curly dark locks to the lighter shade for the annual affair held this year at the Sunset Room in Los Angeles. Her golden mane fell in waves over her shoulders and perfectly complemented the rest of her glam look.

“I always try to make a statement when I walk out on the court — to be bold and to be unique and to kind of transcend."

Though she has her own clothing brand, the Olympian opted to wear a Burberry skirt for the occasion. The skin-tight number had a high waist and perfectly encapsulated her waist and hips. She matched this with a form-fitting white tank top tucked into her skirt, creating a flawless silhouette of a fit athlete. To accessorize, Serena wore strands of gold around her neck highlighting the golden glow of her hair.

Serena studied fashion back in early 2000 at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. It took three attempts before she finally found her groove with S by Serena.

COMBINING SPORTS AND FASHION

Sports Illustrated made no mistake in selecting the 37-year-old to be their cover girl for their 4th Fashionable 50 issue which celebrates the most stylish sports athletes. Serena reveals in her cover story that sports and fashion have always been her passions. In fact, her hardcourt appearances are a testament to this. She would often sway from tradition and wear fashionable tennis outfits which she reveals to the publication is her way of sending out a message.

“I always try to make a statement when I walk out on the court — to be bold and to be unique and to kind of transcend. I always try to send the message of just being confident and being fierce.”

HER CONTROVERSIAL CAT SUIT

You will recall one of Serena’s bolder choices was a black skintight catsuit she wore to the French Open last year. It didn’t get the reception she expected. In fact, it prompted the French Tennis Federation to ban the kind of outfit after questioning its appropriateness. Serena took that controversy in stride, believing she has too much going for herself to be bothered by the negativity.

HER CLOTHING LINE

While Serena’s fashion choices are limited on the hardcourt, she enjoys the freedom of designing her own clothes via her direct to consumer fashion line called S by Serena. The casual wear line consists of clothes people can wear every day and boasts of trendy outfits the athlete herself frequently models on her social media.

Serena studied fashion back in early 2000 at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. It took three attempts before she finally found her groove with S by Serena. Her first attempt was in 2004 when she launched the line Aneres (which is Serena spelled backward). When that failed, she developed a line for the Home Shopping Network called Serena Signature Statement but that didn’t fly too.

Today, the fashionista slash tennis superstar sees a lot of promise in S by Serena. “I have this whole big vision of what S by Serena is going to be,” she says.