Going Strong

Venus Williams has long defied expectations—which is why stepping off-court now is very much not on the menu. The Met Gala cohost (and newlywed!) talks to Jen Wang about building her legacy, match by match.

- Jackie Nickerson

WINGING IT "I get a lot of joy out of... bucking the system," says Williams, who, at 45, is the oldest competitor on the women's tour. Gucci dress. Hair, Felicia Burrows; makeup, Frankie Boyd. Details, see In This Issue. Sittings Editor: Eric McNeal.

It’s the last place on earth you'd expect to find Venus Williams—a palm-shaded tiki bar on a Florida waterway in Palm Beach North: plastic armchairs, baskets of seafood on the menu, Jimmy Buffett over the speakers.

But Venus likes the food at this honky-tonk, she tells me matter-of-factly, and we take a table on the sand with a lighthouse view. We're in Jupiter, Florida, near Venus’s beachfront home, where she wed Danish Italian model-actor-restaurateur Andrea Preti in December in a multiday affair that the bride didn't want to end. (There was also an intimate ceremony in Ischia, Italy, held months before.) “There’s no more wedding to plan,” she says with a sigh. “That part's really sad.” She proceeds to order a veggie burger, fries, and, to my surprise, a Bloody Mary. She's joking, it turns out, though that’s almost impossible to discern, as her poker face—once described as “lapidary” for its exquisite composure—has been finely honed across a 32-year career.

SECOND SKIN Actor Gwendoline Christieone of several members of the Met Gala's 2026 host committee featured in this portfolio-wears a gilded, sculptural Carolina Herrera dress; carolinaherrera.​com.

OPPOSITE: Like the Winged Victory of Samothrace, ballet dancer Misty Copeland is an awesome vision in a deftly layered top and skirt from Fforme; fforme.​com. Fashion Editor: Law Roach.