On Tuesday, Vogue announced Serena Williams as the cover star of its September 2022 issue. The tennis superstar appears in a striking blue Balenciaga gown, with a fold-out of the horizontal shot revealing her daughter, Olympia, posing along with her, clinging to the train, on the beach. (Adorable.)
But Williams took the opportunity in the magazine’s pages for an announcement of her own: Via a first-person story (as told to Rob Haskell), she revealed that she will be preparing to retire from professional tennis, calling the choice “the hardest thing that I could ever imagine.”
In the photographs by Luis Alberto Rodriguez, Williams wears her hair in loose, flow-y curls (by hairstylists Latisha Chong and Tav Kinard), freed from the on-court braided styles we’re so used to seeing her wear; her makeup (by Raisa Flowers) is simple and glow-y. The athlete’s power stance is commanding, but the overall tone is one of softness, strength and love (for herself, for her daughter, for the power of the decision she has made, for the women who, like her, have had to make difficult choices).
The accompanying story echoes these themes: Williams discusses the importance of family in her life, the fact that she and husband Alexis Ohanian have been trying for another child and that she feels the need to choose “between tennis and family,” despite feeling that it’s an unfair choice.
As Williams looks toward the future, she shies away from the word “retirement” — She has plans for the future, she tells Haskell: “Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me. A few years ago I quietly started Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm. Soon after that, I started a family. I want to grow that family.”
Another highlight of the venerable September issue this year – US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has been photographed by legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz.
The powerful images show the 51-year-old justice photographed at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, just one month after she was sworn in as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. In one photo, Jackson is seen subtly smiling with her hands folded in front of her, as her back is turned to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. She wears a brown double-breasted wool coat from Aliétte, and a Tiffany pearl and diamond pendant paired with Tiffany Victoria earrings.
In the second photograph, Jackson stands tall in a blue Oscar de la Renta coat and black dress from the same label. The Supreme Court justice leans against a massive pillar, while the dimly lit monument of President Abraham Lincoln sits stoically in the background.
The images were snapped by iconic photographer Annie Leibovitz, who had captured the Ukrainian first lady at her home in Kyiv less than a month ago. The photos were accompanied by a reflective piece, written by public defender Imeime Umana, on how Jackson has paved the way for so many Black women in the US.
Vogue shared the images from the photoshoot to social media on Tuesday. “Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation speaks to a deep-seated American desire to believe that we can transcend our past,” Vogue captioned its post.
Vogue‘s September issue will be on newsstands on August 16. Read the full story — and see more images from the Vogue shoot — at Vogue.com.
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Photo Credit: Jaguar PS / Shutterstock.com