Zaya Wade is forging her own path.
Dwyane Wade’s daughter covers the latest issue of Seventeen magazine, and opened up about making her runway debut at Miu Miu’s fall 2023 show during Paris Fashion Week.
Wade, whose stepmom is actress Gabrielle Union, considered taking out her braids before walking in the show — however, she ended up keeping them, saying, “I want to be impactful.”
“There’s a stigma around Afrocentric looks in high fashion,” Wade said, adding that she saw an interview of fellow model Anok Yai talking about “not budging on wearing her natural hair on the runway.”
The luxury label’s creative director, Miuccia Prada, even supported the teenager’s decision to leave her hair as-is on the runway.
Wade noted that the veteran designer “came in, saw my look, and loved it,” which sparked joy for the Gen-Z fashion star.
“What I was really thinking about the whole time on the runway was that I was doing this very authentically,” Wade explained about her big debut. “I wasn’t diminishing the cultural importance of braids.”
The 17-year-old, who came out as transgender in Feb. 2020, added, “I wasn’t hiding my transition, my gender, or my skin.”
She spoke about being involved in the fashion industry in general, saying, “There are moments where it feels like being on cloud nine. The glitz and glamour, I can’t explain it. But while I’m dressed up literally and figuratively, I’m also representing my community and that’s what makes it so much better.”
In 2023, she changed her name to Zaya Malachi Airamis Wade and became legally recognized as female.
While appearing on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in early 2020, the athlete spoke about his daughter coming out, explaining that he and his wife “take our roles and our responsibilities as parents very seriously.”
He also said they feel their job as parents is to provide their kids with the “best information that we can, the best feedback that we can, and that doesn’t change because sexuality is now involved in it.”
