The ancient muses presided over the realm of imagination, offering creativity when called upon. Modern muses take creativity into their own hands: Tennis great Venus Williams, for example, founded her V Starr interior design firm to create worlds she wanted to see. An ongoing partnership with Wolf-Gordon now offers V Starr’s first product design collaboration, the upholstery collection Muse. “It was such a pleasure to create this collection,” Williams says. “I’m so happy and proud of the patterns and colors we designed.”
Three styles find strength in femininity and pay tribute to rousing women. The high-performing Ora, named for Williams’ mother Oracene, weaves recycled polyester yarns in graduated shades of twisting helixes. The polyester-acrylic-nylon Frida, meanwhile, is an artful canvas of horizontal brushstrokes of black and white across bold expanses of solid color. And collection hero Elena shows off dancing figures radiating with joy, in post-consumer, beach cleanable polyester matelassé. Colorways reference V Starr’s home in South Florida, with ranges of neutrals, blushes, and jewel tones. Their names put collectivity front and center: Elena’s quartet of shades, for example, include graphic PantHER, cool AlabastHER, peachy BlUSh, and verdant JunipHER, while Frida’s nine add in sunny LionUS and blue-tone AtmUSphere.
“Venus Williams is the ultimate example of female strength, not only due to her athletic prowess but also for her personal character and integrity,” says Wolf-Gordon COO Marybeth Shaw. “We’re very proud to have collaborated with Venus and her team at V Starr.” You might even say they’ve been inspired.
