Serena Williams made her first public appearance since welcoming her daughter, Alexis Olympia, at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards last night. She was there to honour her friend Gigi Hadid. I always forget that Serena and Gigi are friends. I think I tend to forget this fact because remembering it reminds me that Serena was a Taylor Swift Squad member for a hot second and my brain is still trying to compute that information.
Serena presented Gigi with The Supernova award. I don’t understand exactly what that means or why Gigi was recognized specifically this year but let’s not dwell on that. Being a Glamour Woman of the Year is big honour, absolutely, but isn’t it an even bigger honour when SERENA “THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME” WILLIAMS presents you with that honour? And that she said this?
“Gigi, you're one of the few people on this planet I would leave my baby for one night.”
If I were Gigi Hadid, I’d get that quote emblazoned on a plaque and call it a day. Serena went on to say some other really nice things about her friend:
“(Gigi) understands that in order to be the best, you have to think like you are the best, work the hardest, and make sacrifices.”
I don’t think the general assumption is that modelling requires hard work. It does. But to be the best? To be a proper supermodel like Gigi with multiple campaigns, collaborations and charity initiatives? You don’t get to that level without putting in the work and if anyone knows about hard work, it’s Serena Williams. This celebration and acknowledgment of respect between two powerful women is what interests me most, not that Serena Williams put on a tight dress a couple months after welcoming a baby.
Of course, most of the headlines this morning are about Serena’s post-baby body. Serena Williams’ body has been unfairly and grossly scrutinized for her entire career. As soon as she announced she was pregnant, I knew she was in for even more infuriating public examination of her body. Serena Williams had a baby. Serena Williams walked a red carpet last night looking f-cking stunning. Cool. Can we move on now? If we’re going to analyze anything about Serena’s look, it should be the shoes. These shoes are not worthy of the GOAT.
You can watch Serena’s full introduction to Gigi and Gigi’s acceptance speech below.
