Coco Gauff responds to criticism of natural hair in Miu Miu shoot: ‘The girls who get it, get it’
Coco Gauff has responded to online criticism of her natural hair following a shoot for fashion label Miu Miu, which has co-designed some of Gauff’s tennis kits the past couple of years. “To all the young Black girls out there who have kinky hair like me, do what you want to do with your hair,” the two-time Grand Slam champion said. Gauff, 22, posted photos from a shoot for Miu Miu’s Vivant bag Apr.
2, which, she said in her video posted Apr. 9, was “literally me and my social person in my parents’ back yard. ” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Coco Gauff (@cocogauff) The shoot was coordinated to fit the brand’s version of an everyday or minimal aesthetic, Gauff said, which for her manifested as wearing her 4C hair — as classified on a scale which aims to measure the tightness, curl shape and curl density of hair — naturally.
In response to the shoot, some commenters labeled it “unkempt” and drew comparisons to “civil-rights-era” hairstyles. Gauff, who wore her hair similarly under a baseball cap during her run to last month’s Miami Open final, said in her video that her hair choices are intertwined with being an athlete. In a report for The Athletic last fall, Black British women’s footballers, including Manchester City’s Khiara Keating and Tottenham’s Jessica Naz, outlined how some more elaborate styles require extensive planning and lengthy appointments, which can be incompatible with their schedules.
“I personally don’t like to slick back my hair super-sleek, because it does damage my hair,” she said. “I do play tennis, so most of the time when I’m wearing it in a bun, I choose to allow my hair to be and to present in its 4C self, because I do have 4C hair. … I don’t want it to be super-slicked-back, because it’s just not good for my hair.
” She went on to encourage people to express themselves as they see fit, through the full spectrum of Black hair, just as Gauff has done throughout her career on and off the court. “If you want to straighten your hair, permanently straighten your hair, perm your hair. If you want to wear your hair afro, wear your hair afro.