Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova has an Eye on Fashion

Maria Sharapova is not just one of the great women tennis players that are world renowned. She also continued to rock the boat even in the fashion world – not just on the tennis court. She penetrated the fashion world where competition is as fierce as rallies on hard courts, grass and clay but this did not stop her.

Apart from Sharapova, Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Martina Hingis also invaded the fashion scene. In 2003, Serena launched her Aneres line. Venus Williams followed in 2007 with her EleVen line while Martina Hingis will be launching a new line of tennis clothing soon. And, Sharapova will now take the center stage on the fashion scene.

Sharapova has a passion for fashion even when she was still a young girl. She signed an 8-year contract with Nike in 2010, which was reportedly worth $70 million. After which, she collaborated with the shoe and sportswear giant on designs after her popular Little Black Dress launched in the U.S. Open in 2006. This just proves how serious she is about fashion and it just keeps getting better.

According to her, fashion has brought an artistic expression that inspired her in more ways than one. For her, it is a way to communicate with her inner self. Her goal involves developing her personal brand not only as a tennis player but also as a fashion designer. She also designs bags and shoes for Cole Haan as part of the 8-year contract that she signed and this is a responsibility she always thinks seriously about.

The Maria Sharapova Collection, which includes tennis dresses and two-piece attires, was launched by Nike during the 2010 Australian Open. Her 2010 dress got slammed and she also lost in the first round in Melbourne. Since then, she has come a very long way in terms of her strategies in design. Now, her new dress for the 2012 is lustrous, streamlined and with the right dose of sophistication designed exclusively for the hard courts.

Sharapova – who is the three-time Grand Slam winner – designed a tennis dress that will maximize her fashion sense and her tennis plays. To show off her confidence both as a player and a designer – the dress has the name “The Statement Slam.”

Her performance so far in Melbourne has lived up to the expectation dress wise. She played aggressively, firmly and powerfully as she advances to the semifinals where she will be facing Petra Kvitova.

The 24-year old tennis star considers good textile, better fit and excellent performance during the design stages. And above all, the color choice is always one of the important decisions she has to make. During the early phase of choosing the most appropriate color, she starts with a fresh color palette especially at the beginning of the year. She also starts with as light materials as possible considering the heat during playing.

Apart from this, she also considers the surface – clay, hard or grass – as well as the color of the court when designing. She usually wants to maximize the contrast as much as possible. The Australian Open features the blue hard courts and in view of this she liked the neon accents because it gives the most contrast against the blue court.

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