In 2004, Serena started a runway-ready clothing line, "Aneres," with celebrities such as Destiny's Child's Michelle Williams and R&B singer Brandy sporting the glam-wear. Following in her sister's footsteps, Venus Williams launched her own line of clothing last week at the discount clothing chain Steve & Barry's.

The 120-piece collection of sportswear, footwear and accessories, called EleVen, is packed with the kind of clothes that active women love to wear: sweat suits and T-shirts, track jackets and yoga pants.

But unlike your everyday workout gear, each item has a distinct detail - such as ribbons, pink piping, puff sleeves or studs - that gives the line great versatility.

But while Venus Williams' line is made for a casually cool day out and about, her younger sister's line is much more upscale. Aneres -Serena's name spelled backward - seems tailor made for a night out on the town.

Blouses are low-cut; dresses are short. Everything sold from select boutiques and specialty stores in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and Los Angeles is tricked-out: lacy or shiny, accented with leather, plaid, polka dots or faux reptile skin. The colorful collection of dresses, evening looks, club-wear and business attire absolutely suits the personality of the younger Williams sister, insiders and experts say.

 Shoes from Venus Williams' EleVen clothing line

 "[Serena] is involved 140 percent," in designing the lingerie and ready-to-wear clothes for Aneres, which range from $10 to $250, says David Tomassoni, the company's general manager. "She has a design team to help ... but the ideas and the designs are all hers."

Serena Williams brings her on-court fashion sense to her Aneres designs, experts say.

"Serena is bold and daring. She makes a big statement on the court," says Ben Sturner, chairman and CEO of Leverage Agency, a sports and entertainment sponsorship agency in New York. "She'll wear boots on to the court or a new and totally different outfit that no one has ever come close to wearing on the court."

As an athlete and occasional fashion model, marathon-runner Chantel Hobbs of Coral Springs, Fla., says she can find something to like about both sisters' lines. "To me, Serena's clothes are edgy, but sophisticated. And from what I've seen of Venus's line, hers is definitely sportier," says Hobbs, author of Never Say Diet, an account of finding health and well-being.

"For people who like to work out, we end up spending a lot of time in those [workout] clothes. So, it's nice to have clothes to work out in that you can wear to the grocery store, or if you have to run in to the mall to buy someone a birthday gift. You can still feel like you're making a fashion statement, but you can sweat in them too."


The Williams sisters - powerhouses on the tennis court - are known for making quite the fashion statements in their personal time. They're prone to form-fitting outfits, shorty-shorts, cut-outs, catsuits, bold colors and super-high heels.

"Thank God for Venus and Serena," says David Rosenberg, Tennis magazine photo editor, who works with stylists and models and often writes fashion articles. "In tennis, there's only a handful of people who try to do anything fashion-wise. I give them credit for trying to push the envelope."

Hobbs appreciates the sisters' combination of strength, femininity and style.

"They're both very strong women, with beautiful bodies. They have hips. They look like women, but they're strong and fit," says Hobbs. "I think it's nice to have designers now that are designing clothes for women like that, versus so many lines that we see on the runway ... though they may be beautiful clothes, they're not going to work on all women."

Venus Williams says that their "pushing the style envelope" comes naturally. Growing up in Compton, Calif., she and her sister always had a love for fashion.

"We both loved to sew. We tried to make clothes for our dolls and clothes for ourselves," she says.

Both sisters have worn their own designs on the tennis court. At the U.S. Open this summer, Venus wore a drop-pleated green tennis dress, with a feminine bow on the side - straight from her Steve & Barry's line. Her sister has worked with Nike to design some of her own on-court outfits as well; this summer, for example, she donned a self-created short, black Nike set with a pink bow detail.

Rosenberg said that Venus - normally the more conservative sister - made a surprisingly bigger splash on the court in her designs than Serena.

"While Serena is usually the edgier one, I think Venus trumped her this year," Rosenberg says, recalling a pair of purple shorty-shorts Venus wore during competitions this summer. "Those were the tightest, shortest shorts I've ever seen on the tennis court."

One pair of short-shorts selling in the EleVen line, black with pink piping, will retail for $10.98. In fact, nothing of Venus' at Steve & Barry's will sell for more than $19.98.

Believing that fashionable, quality clothing should be affordable to all people, Steve & Barry's also has entered into design partnerships with such sports and Hollywood celebrities as Sarah Jessica Parker, Stephon Marbury and Amanda Bynes.

"I believed in what they were doing," Venus Williams says of the discount clothing chain's philosophy. "And they believed in me."

According to Tomassoni, Serena Williams may be following her sister's lead, when it comes to making affordable clothing.

Aneres officials are in talks with a low-price, mass-market retailer to produce a spring ready-to-wear line for that chain, he says. Serena Williams also is hoping to partner with another large discount chain to sell her lingerie. And she is planning to sell tennis jewelry and watches on Home Shopping Network.

"We want to grow slowly," Tomassoni says.