Venus Williams' sports luxe look for the Met Gala 2025 just gave athleisure a high fashion feel

Venus Williams' look for the Met Gala 2025 was perfectly personal for the sporting star. With a dress code of 'Tailored for You', that was often interpreted as an exploration of classic tailoring, and reworking traditional menswear styles for the female form, Venus Williams, together with Lacoste, took things one step further, tailoring the theme to something more personal.

With a twist on a classic tennis uniform, Venus Williams took to the red carpet in a deep emerald green ensemble that had a sports luxe feel. Her diamante collared polo top was paired with a sharply pleated tennis skirt, that was traditional tennis length at the front, before dropping into an almost train-like length at the sides and back. The whole outfit was pulled together and up-styled by a dramatic shawl-collared coat, with deep fringe embellishment that added plenty of texture to the look. It was 'tennis-core' at its finest.

Designed by Lacoste Creative Director Pelagia Kolotouros, the outfit brought together style codes that are central to Venus Williams' sporting career, alongside silhouettes that are associated with Lacoste.

Venus Williams delivered sports luxe style at the Met Gala

Sports luxe has long been a trend on seasonal catwalks, but it is rare to see such styles make their way onto the red carpet. However, Venus Williams was the perfect champion for such an ensemble.

Venus became a brand ambassador for Lacoste back in 2022 and has since worked on a number of collaborations with the label. Her Met Gala 2025 outfit perfectly combined elements from both her own career and from the brand's tennis heritage.

The all green ensemble paid homage to the classic tennis skirt, an item that has gained popularity in fashion circles in recent years, and while the polo top has tried to become a style staple, the refresh of it here might just help to secure its fashion status once and for all.

The theme of the Met Gala 2025 is 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' which is the title of this year's Costume Institute exhibition. The exhibition, which launches at the event delves into the rich history and cultural significance of Black dandyism and this has been used by many as the overarching influence for outfits of the evening.

While Venus Williams' outfit very much reflected her own career, the adorned shawl collar and jewelled polo top gave strong nods to Black dandy style.

Both the theme and the exhibition are largely inspired by Author Monica Miller's 2009 research on Black dandyism and the styling of Black identity.

Although the Met Gala rarely sets trends in terms of new seasonal looks, the continued fusion of sport and fashion is one that continues to influence our everyday and occasion wardrobes, and something to certainly keep an eye on.