Serena Williams showed off her voluptuous figure in a black sequined gown at the CFDA Fashion Awards… three months after welcoming her second child

All eyes were on tennis superstar Serena Williams as she arrived at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City for the annual Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Awards on Monday.

The 42-year-old retired athlete was preparing to accept the Style Icon Award, which has previously been awarded to Naomi Campbell, Zendaya and Beyonce, at the star-studded ceremony. Dressed by CFDA Chairman Thom Browne with eye-catching sleeves and train.

The mother-of-two, who gave birth to her second daughter, Adira River Ohanian, in August, accessorized her striking dress with David Yurman jewelry and her long blond hair in a low ponytail.

Ahead of the event, the Olympian told CFDA: “Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve used fashion as a channel for self-expression—it gave me the confidence to step out onto the field and acknowledge who and where I am. “Knew I was going. ”

“My dream of owning my own brand, S by Serena, has become a reality, and throughout my career I’ve been lucky enough to work with the most established designers and the most exciting emerging creatives,” Williams continued. “I had so much fun learning my style and having it change as my life progressed, but I always stood by one thing: fashion is for everyone, no matter your body type, race, or income.”

Williams said she was “extremely honored to receive the prestigious Fashion Icon Award from the CFDA.”

CFDA President Thom Browne praised the Michigan native for “taking fashion into another world” through his tennis career and for “always staying true to who he is on and off the court.”

Brown also described Williams as “a true style icon” and “one of the most inspiring people in the world.”

In December, she admitted on Twitter that retirement was not going to be easy for her.

She explained that having free time is challenging because she spends her whole life preparing for the next game or competition, constantly competing.

Serena welcomed Olympia, whom she shares with her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, in September 2017. The couple tied the knot two months after their daughter was born.

While talking to E! Earlier this month, the sports star said of her daughter: “I hope she realizes how good I am at what I do and how hard it takes to do it well.”

“It just takes away the hard work and excellence that you have to put your body through, and the discipline that you also have to put your body through,” she continued.

She also opened up about retirement in a Vogue article published in August.

“I definitely feel calmer now,” Serena admitted. ‘That’s really interesting. I guess I was miserable because I was still able to play at a very, very high level. Having said that, I always want to keep the game at a very high level.

The star added, “But it’s hard because it’s like, ‘Oh my God, I can still play, I can still do all these things.’ … But inch by inch I’m leaning, Embrace the object inch by inch.’

“I don’t want it to end but at the same time I’m ready for what’s next,” Serena wrote in August, gushing about tennis. “You’ve given me so much.” I love winning. I like fighting. I like entertainment.

“My whole life so far has been tennis. My dad said the first time I picked up a racket was when I was three years old, but I think it was much earlier,” she recalls.

When announcing her retirement, Serena revealed in an interview with Time that her daughter was actually very excited about the news.

“Olympia doesn’t like me playing tennis,” said the star, whose sister Venus Williams is also a professional tennis player.

She added that the reaction “kind of saddened me and brought anxiety to my heart.” It’s hard to be fully engaged when your body is saying, “Oh.”

Although Serena told Vogue magazine she planned to step away from tennis, she told a TechCrunch Disrupt panel in San Francisco in October, “I’m not retiring.”

“My chances of coming back are very high,” the athlete told viewers, according to the San Francisco Standard.

Serena Williams competed in the 2022 U.S. Open in early September, but lost to Ajla Tomljanovic.

“I’ve never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me,” the hardworking mother explained to Vogue, describing the change in her life as a “transition.”

While no longer competing professionally, the talented star has been focusing on adding another new member to her family while also focusing her attention on her own clothing line, S By Serena.