Photo: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
Coco Gauff is speaking up after receiving online criticism about her hair, turning a fashion campaign into a bigger conversation about beauty standards, Black hair, and who gets to be seen as polished.
The 22-year-old tennis star addressed the backlash in a TikTok video after photos from her recent Miu Miu Vivant bag campaign began circulating online.
Gauff shared the campaign on Instagram on April 2, writing, “big bag day means my @miumiu Vivant can carry just about anything I need.”
What followed, though, was a wave of commentary about her appearance — especially her hair.
Gauff said the look was intentional from the start. “I did my everyday hair and makeup because that was personally the point,” she said in the video. She also explained why she chose not to wear a slicked-back style, saying, “I personally don’t like to slick back my hair super sleek, because it does damage my hair.”
Then she got more direct.
“I’m not going to apologize for the way that my hair looked,” Gauff said. “My hair was good enough for a high-fashion brand like Miu Miu to promote one of their newest launches. So if my 4C hair is good enough for that, then yours is good enough to do whatever you need it to do.”
For Gauff, the issue was never just one photo shoot. It was about what it means for young Black girls to see themselves represented without having to flatten, over-style, or transform their hair into something more acceptable.
“To all the young Black girls out there who have kinky hair like me, do what you want to do with your hair,” she said “Do what you want to do because people are going to hate on you regardless.”
She also acknowledged that the criticism hit a nerve. Gauff said, “I’m not going to lie, for two days I was feeling rough,” before adding, “y’all did knock a diva down… but diva got up.”
That response is part of why the moment resonated far beyond tennis or fashion. Black hair has long been policed in schools, workplaces, and public life under the language of “neatness,” “professionalism,” or being “put together.” That history helps explain why some of the reactions to Gauff’s campaign felt so familiar.
Gauff, though, made clear she is not interested in shrinking herself to fit someone else’s comfort level. She said she made the video because she wanted girls with hair like hers to know “your hair is literally fine the way it is.”
And that, more than the backlash itself, is the real takeaway.
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