Viral clips fuel one question: did Serena Williams walk a Gucci runway in a thong. Here is the verified context, the fashion history and what the footage actually shows.
The search phrase is exploding: “Serena Williams défilé Gucci string”. It sounds like a headline made for clicks. A global tennis icon. A luxury house synonymous with bold styling. A bare-thong twist that defined a whole Y2K mood. No surprise readers want clarity straight away.
Here is the essential context. Serena Williams owns 23 Grand Slam singles titles and a career singles win rate above 85 percent. She has stepped onto fashion runways too, most notably at the Off-White show in Paris on 28 February 2022, a tribute to Virgil Abloh. Gucci, for its part, leaned into early 2000s codes under Alessandro Michele between 2015 and 2022, including visible thong styling spotted again on major catwalks around 2020 and 2021, before Sabato De Sarno’s first Gucci collection in September 2023 shifted the house toward a sharper line.
Serena Williams, Gucci and the viral “string” search
The main idea is simple. A tangle of short videos and captions has turned a stylistic trope into a specific rumor. Many viewers now expect to find a clear clip of Serena Williams walking a Gucci runway in a thong. The web loves a mashup. Fashion history loves context.
Start with the observation. Serena Williams has attended high fashion events and fronted major campaigns since at least the late 2000s, while launching her own label S by Serena in 2018 and returning to headline moments like Paris Fashion Week in 2022. Gucci’s runway language during the late Michele years revived low-rise silhouettes and string reveals that recall Tom Ford-era shock and early aughts nightlife. Put those two tracks next to one another and a single, misleading narrative spreads fast.
The solvable problem: confusion between brand aesthetics and a specific appearance. Publicly documented runway archives and photo agencies show Serena’s walk at Off-White in 2022, not at a Gucci catwalk. Clips that circulate with Gucci tags often repackage those Paris images or unrelated backstage snippets. That is where the mix-up begins.
What the footage shows, and what it does not
Viewers get lost when labels are cropped out or the caption adds a spicy word like “string”. It happens in seconds. A phone screen, a sound bite, and suddenly a new story feels true. Patience helps.
Concrete examples matter. The Off-White moment on 28 February 2022 placed Serena Williams in a white, sculptural gown with sneakers, documented across international media on the same date. Gucci’s visible thong styling reappeared on runways in the 2020 to 2021 window, when Y2K elements were back across multiple houses. Those are two separate threads. One is a Serena milestone tied to a tribute show. The other is a Gucci styling choice inside specific seasons with distinct models and casting.
So the answer many readers want lands here. There is no verified record of Serena Williams walking a Gucci runway in a thong. The viral phrase stitches together a famous athlete, a famous maison and a trend that Gucci helped amplify during the early 2020s. The clip you saw probably blends them. That explains the feeling of déjà vu without a single source video to confirm the exact claim.
Why the “string” moment sticks to Gucci, and where Serena fits today
There is a reason this keeps resurfacing. Y2K style surged back into the mainstream around 2020, then rolled through 2021 with low-waist looks and exposed straps. Gucci became one of the shorthand names for that vibe, just as Tom Ford’s late 1990s Gucci once stood for high-voltage sensuality. Labels become symbols. Search terms follow.
And Serena Williams sits at a unique intersection. She reshaped tennis with power and grace, then moved into fashion with the same steel. By 2017 she had 23 major singles titles and in 2022 she played what was widely framed as a farewell US Open run. In August 2023, she welcomed a second daughter, a life update that made front pages as easily as runway images do. Each milestone pulls her into lifestyle and fashion conversations again, sometimes right next to Gucci even when there is no direct collaboration in that moment.
The practical way to read new clips is simple. Check the date on the post. Look for runway backdrops or the season name on screen. Gucci shows under Sabato De Sarno began in September 2023 with a cleaner silhouette and saturated reds, while the Off-White tribute happened on 28 February 2022 with a distinct set design. Those details anchor what you see. If a caption screams “Gucci string” and the visual shows Serena in Paris with Off-White typography, you already have your answer. Definetely less mysterious, still satisfying.