Last night Serena Williams, who looked divine in a custom Armani Privé dress, introduced a short clip of the Oscar-nominated A Star Is Born.
Her speech, which included a veiled reference to friend Meghan Markle, spoke of making dreams happen, and the struggle to achieve goals.
This wasn’t the only inspirational speech we heard form the tennis star last night, whose voiceover was featured on the brand new Nike ad.
Celebrating 30 years of the sporting companies ‘Just Do It’ slogan, the advert was unveiled during the 91st annual Academy Awards ceremony.
The 90 second ‘Dream Crazy’ campaign showed history-making female athletes and coaches including hijab-wearing fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, Olympic gymnast and alleged sexual assault victim Simone Biles, and runner Caster Sementa, who was forced to undergo gender-confirmation tests after breaking the world record for 800 metres.
These iconic clips of women ran alongside an emotional and powerful speech by mother-of-one Williams. The full script reads:
'If we show emotion, we’re called dramatic.I f we want to play against men, we’re nuts. And if we dream of equal opportunity, delusional. When we stand for something, we’re unhinged. When we’re too good there’s something wrong with us. And if we get angry, we’re hysterical or irrational or just being crazy. But, a woman running a marathon was crazy. A woman boxing was crazy. A woman dunking? Crazy. Coaching an NBA team? Crazy. A woman competing in a hijab, changing her sport, landing a double-cork 1080 or winning 23 grand slams, having a baby and then coming back for more? Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy and crazy. So if they want to call you crazy? Fine. Show them what crazy can do.'
The advert is receiving universal acclaim online, with many taking to social media to praise the women featured and the brand for making such a kick-ass feminist statement.
What a way to start Monday.
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
