Jessica White (@iamjypsywhite/Instagram)
After the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was filmed in November, social media was buzzing about Black models showing their natural hair. The next month, model Jessica White posted a photo on Instagram announcing she may decide to show off her curls on the job in 2017.
White, who is signed to agencies in Los Angeles and Hamburg, Germany, posted a striking black-and-white image showcasing her natural hair to her Instagram account Thursday, Dec. 1.
“Today I’m [throwing it back] to the all natural jypsy,” [sic] the 32-year-old wrote in the caption. “[I’m] thinking about wearing my natural hair for work starting next year.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNfj_S8BrdA/?taken-by=iamjypsywhite&hl=en
Many users reacted warmly to the image.
@eyelovecolor replied with enthusiasm
@naturalness__ vowed to purchase all magazines that showcased White’s natural hair.
@deebuhdaybo told the 5’10 beauty she was beautiful no matter what.
@samsogorge thought the model could do well with her natural-born looks.
If White were to showcase her natural curls during photo shoots next year, it wouldn’t mark the first time she’s ditched the straight look. One week after she shared her stunning throwback photo, White posted an undated image of herself posing on the beach as her coils framed her face.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNiI3hUBxp3/?taken-by=iamjypsywhite&hl=en
In 2015, the modeling world was rocked by the natural hair movement when Maria Borges decided to walk the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show runway in a close-cropped, kinky hairdo. Borges would once again grace the catwalk with the same look in 2016, but this time, she was joined by two other models, Herieth Paul and Jourdana Phillips, who also sported their natural, short afros.
But White, Borges, Paul and Phillips are not the only models who have decided to embrace their natural hair at work. On Instagram, there are at least two other examples of models who have posed in front of the camera in the same untampered state. Former “America’s Next Top Model” contestant Ebonee Davis regularly shoots with her tapered ‘fro. Plus, Crystal Noreiga, who strutted down the runway during New York Fashion Week in September, has also posed with her afro on full display.
