Unique SA outfit for Serena’s baby
[caption id="attachment_220813" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Paula Jones shows the shweshwe outfit she sent to Serena Williams for her baby daughter
Picture: Supplied[/caption]
Tennis star Serena Williams’ newborn daughter may soon be sporting a unique shweshwe baby outfit thanks to an enterprising Port Elizabeth mother.
Entrepreneur Paula Jones, who designs and sells maternity wear online, made an exclusive shweshwe baby outfit for the first child of the grand slam tennis legend.
Williams and her fiance Alexis Ohanian, a tech entrepreneur who co-founded the social news website Reddit, welcomed their baby at St Mary’s Medical Centre in Palm Beach, Florida last week.
The two-piece baby outfit is made from one of the original chocolate Three Cats shweshwe prints made at Da Gama Textiles in Zwelitsha, King William’s Town.
It features a tennis racket and ball motif in shweshwe on a white T-shirt, with matching shorts in the same print.
“I was looking for a way in which to incorporate shweshwe, a fabric produced in the Eastern Cape, into my babywear range to make a garment that the international market could also appreciate,” Jones said.
“When I found Serena’s pregnancy announcement on my Instagram feed, I knew I wanted to send her a baby outfit that was exclusively South African.
“She’s also known for her unusual and colourful outfits, on and off the tennis court, and is the ideal person to send African-inspired wear to.
“She is not afraid to embrace her own unique style and I’m hoping her baby will also have that unusual flair.”
Jones sent the garments to the tennis star’s agent in the US and hopes there will be a demand for more, as she is keen to produce a range which also includes motifs of other sports.
Jones, a working mom who has four teenage children, started designing and selling maternity wear online last year.
She began supplying the online fashion retailer, Zando, at the end of last year and recently expanded the range to include babywear and accessories.
