Serena Williams has the most relatable reason for agreeing to host the 2024 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles on Thursday night: the clothes!
“You may be wondering why am I doing this. First of all, any opportunity to wear 16 outfits in three hours, I’m taking it,” the tennis legend joked in front of the star-studded crowd at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason. As a four-time Olympic gold medalist and the holder of 39 Grand Slam titles, Williams was a clear choice to host the ceremony for the ESPYs, which recognize individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-related performance.
But apart from her expertise, Williams also brought the fashion. The athlete looked incredible in seven totally different outfits during the award show—no doubt with much help from stylist Kesha McLeod.
To walk the red carpet before the show, Williams wore a striking black and silver gown, which looked like a black strapless dress layered over a crystal-studded chainmail bra. The metallic silver also ran down below the skirt, creating a shimmering pool around Williams’s feet. She finished the dramatic look with long crystal drop earrings and a gold watch. She had on bold, bronzy makeup, and her bleached blonde hair was styled in Old Hollywood waves.
Later in the evening, Williams pulled her curls up into a chic cascading updo and slipped into a deep red halterneck dress completely covered in large scalelike sequins and flirty feathers on the skirt. She posed with longtime friend Duchess Meghan in the look, contrasting with the duchess’s crisp white halterneck dress.
To kick off the show, Williams changed into a bubblegum-pink strapless minidress with ostrich feather trim and sequins all over. She wore it with pointy silver heels and had her hair in a voluminous curly Afro.
Her other looks included a cherry-red coat minidress in faux leather, a black coatdress with a silver leaf embellishment, a sheer corseted black dress, and a leopard-print top with a long scarf train, which she paired with black trousers. And for the after-party, she changed into a little lime-green tennis dress, white sneakers, and a diamond necklace.
Williams’s husband, Alexis Ohanian, and their older daughter, six-year-old Alexis Olympia, were in the audience to support her through her fashion-filled hosting gig.
Rosa Sanchez is the senior news editor at Harper’s Bazaar, working on news as it relates to entertainment, fashion, and culture. Previously, she was a news editor at ABC News and, prior to that, a managing editor of celebrity news at American Media. She has also written features for Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue, Forbes, and The Hollywood Reporter, among other outlets.
