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Tennis champ Coco Gauff responded to online criticism after the athlete’s sizzling photoshoot highlighting her natural hair.
“So, I deleted TikTok and Twitter for a month,” Gauff, 22, began in a Thursday, April 9, TikTok video. “[When I returned, I saw] thousands of people talking about the way that I look and not in a positive way.”
Gauff shared photos from a Miu Miu campaign via Instagram earlier this month.
“Big bag day means my @miumiu Vivant can carry just about anything I need 🤎,” she wrote via Instagram on April 2, sharing photos of herself posing on a tennis court.
In the snaps, Gauff wore a red polo and navy skirt from the famed brand, which she accessorized with a leather tote bag. For glam, she wore minimal makeup and tied her tresses in an updo.
“It was literally me and my social person. We shot that ‘shoot’ in my parents backyard,” Gauff explained on Thursday. “The creative concept … was to show how [the bag] can be used in everyday scenarios.”
For the campaign, Gauff also served as her own stylist.
“I did my hair and my makeup [and] that’s exactly how my hair and my makeup looked for dinner [after the shoot],” she stated. “We took the photos and, like I said, the concept was using the bag everyday, so I did my everyday hair and makeup because that’s what was said to do. I personally don’t like to slick back my hair super sleek because it does damage my hair.”
@cocogauff ❤️
♬ original sound – Coco Gauff
Gauff acknowledged that she has “4C hair,” commonly defined as a type of curl that is very tight and springy. Attempts to slick back or straighten tight curls can damage a person’s natural hair.
“I do play tennis, so most of the time when I’m wearing it in a bun, I choose to allow my natural hair to be at present in its 4C self,” she stated. “I don’t want it to be super slicked back because that’s just not good for my hair. That’s how I do my hair.”
Gauff further stressed that she didn’t want to “apologize for the way [her] hair looked” because both she and her friends liked the styling in the moment and when the photos were released.
“There are other girls who have the exact same hair as me and I just wanted them to see [and] feel represented that your hair is literally fine the way it is,” the tennis phenom said. “My hair was good enough for a high-fashion fashionable brand Miu Miu to promote one of their newest launches. If my 4c hair is good enough for that, then yours is good enough to do whatever you need it to do. I’m not going to apologize for that.”
Gauff’s look was also championed by several of her famous friends.
“You’re amazing. sending you LOVE,” Kerry Washington wrote in the comments section, while Angel Reese added, “You are gorgeous QUEEN! Love you, my girl.”
Chloe Kim also replied, writing, “You are so so beautiful I can’t believe anyone’s saying otherwise?!”
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