updated 4:12 p.m. ET Aug. 15, 2004

ATHENS, Greece - Venus Williams is giving a whole new meaning to the term “overhead.”

The defending Olympic singles tennis champion and budding fashion designer served up a new hat she created for McDonald’s employees to wear while serving food during the games.

The oversized, red-twill newsboy cap features abstract designs in black representing various Olympic sports. Each one bears Williams’ signature on the inside label.

“I guess it’s my first big step, huh? I’m making a name for myself!” she told The Associated Press before a news conference Friday morning. “My first designs were more like a baseball cap, more like what you see in the McDonald’s stores. But then they came back to me and said no, we want you to do something more creative.”

Creativity has been the trademark for Williams and her sister, Serena, when it comes to their tennis attire. They are nothing short of fashion icons with their sexy, skin-baring styles and meticulously coordinated accessories.

Serena Williams was supposed to appear in Athens alongside her sister, but pulled out of the Olympics this week with a knee injury and stayed in the United States.

While 22-year-old Serena already has launched her own clothing line — called Aneres, which is Serena spelled backward — Venus, 24, is studying fashion design at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in Florida.

Venus recognizes that with rappers, actors and athletes getting into the act, having a fashion label is “the hot thing right now — but I want to really be credible and I want to finish my education. I actually started school before it became trendy to have a fashion line and I want to do it the right way.”

But when she steps onto the court during the Olympics, she’ll be wearing someone else’s design: a Diane von Furstenberg ensemble in red, white and blue.

“I have, like, a skirt with a handkerchief hemline and a halter that crosses in the front like a V,” Williams said. “It’s fun! No one else gets to wear these clothes.

“You have to be in shape to wear them, actually,” she added with a laugh. “So I can’t be eating too many cookies.”

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