By Sandra Harwitt

Venus Williams has always taken a fashion forward approach to life, which included pursuing an associates degree in interior design at the Fashion Institute of Fort Lauderdale.

She also completed course work in fashion design and was quick to take a creative lead in her on-court gear company: “EleVen by Venus.” On the companies website, Venus gives her viewpoint on fashion for the court: “I’ve always felt active wear was limited. On the court, I struggled to find clothing that allowed me to express myself the way I could with the never-ending supply of ready-to-wear options. Add to that a fierce desire to motivate people to move their bodies, and the idea of EleVen was born.”

Despite Williams losing to Lucie Safarova 6-4, 6-2 in the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday, the defending champion took time to explain to the sports media in attendance how the fashio industry works.

Williams has often stated that the clothes she wears are a reflection of her mood, and that might truly be the case, but that mood happened to take place about 18 months prior to a particular design line being revealed.

“Yeah, I design so far out into the future, so Wimbledon is like something that I don’t even remember anymore because we are already designing for fall ’16,” Williams said. “When it actually comes out, I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah, I forgot about this dress.’”

In case you’re wondering whether that advanced timeline ever presented a problem for Venus the answer is yes. There’s been an occasion when the next line is delivered and possibly because of a new mood she no longer fancies the style. Of course, too late to make any switch, she grinned and wore it.

“It’s only happened once so far, so I usually work out the kinks beforehand, especially once you see the first samples,” she admitted.

FYI: While she wouldn’t be totally specific about the exact design that met with disapproval, she revealed the Grand Slam outfit that wasn’t a favorite was one she donned at an Australian Open.