By Sean Rudolph
© Maria Sharapova
(November 3, 2010) Maria Sharapova is already a design ace and now she's set her sights on designing her shoes for her wedding to Los Angeles Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic, her boyfriend of a year. Don't look for a swoosh on her wedding-day footwear; Nike endorser Sharapova says she's working with long-time sponsor Cole Haan to design her own wedding shoes.
"I will for sure be wearing Cole Haan because everybody that’s been talking to me about weddings and comfortable shoes said, ‘you have to be sure that you’re wearing comfortable shoes,’ " Sharapova told People Magazine at the 14th annual ACE awards presented by the Accessories Council at Cipriani 42nd Street in Manhattan on Monday night. "I’m for sure going to design them."
Sharapova and Cole Haan CEO Dave McTague received an award for Brand Collaboration, presented by friend of the brand and Entourage actress, Perrey Reeves at The Accessories Council’s 14th Annual 2010 ACE Awards in New York City.
The 23-year-old Sharapova has emerged as a bit of tennis fashion icon in recent years wearing an all black Audrey Hepburn-inspired tennis dress when she won the 2006 US Open title.
The three-time Grand Slam champion says she is considering a traditional long wedding gown.
"I think it depends on the design of the dress and how you feel about it," Sharapova told People. "Sometimes you want to go a little bit shorter, but I love when the dress is also long and fluid and you feel really elegant and flowy."
Vujacic suggested he got down on one knee in delivering his "old school" marriage proposal. Vujacic said the couple are both "really happy."
The athletic power couple, Masha and Sasha, is affectionately dubbed "Sashapova" by Lakers' beat writers. Sharapova says the couple is enjoying the engagement buzz and have not yet set a wedding date.
"It’s a really good feeling,” Sharapova told People. "At the end of the day we have each other and we obviously have our respective careers and we’re really busy but it’s great to come home to someone."