Actress Gabrielle Union didn’t hold back this fashion season, giving models a run for their money with her own looks.
The actress and philanthropist and her husband, Dwyane Wade, have been jet-setting all summer on their Wade Family vacations.
The couple spent a few weeks at Martha’s Vineyard soaking up the sun with their daughter, Kaavia Wade James. But then they jetted off again to Milan, where the “Bring It On!” star debuted a shocking new look.
Union and her husband took a trip to Italy for Milan Fashion Week.
The couple documented their date night for Vogue World: Milano at the Prada fashion show.
‘Makeup Look Good, Hair Look Off’: Gabrielle Union’s New Post Has Fans Doing a Double Take
The actress, 53, wore a cream eyelet-lace Prada set with a cropped top and matching skirt in photos posted on Wednesday, Sept. 23.
Union’s hair fell straight from a middle part, and her makeup featured a sharp winged eye and glossy lips.
While she looked beautiful, she didn’t look like the girl from the Neutrogena commercial in 2004 and her followers let it be known.
“I didn’t recognize her,” one person wrote. Another joked, “Harpo, who dis woman?”
Others in her comments say she looked like everyone from “Girlfriends” star Jill Marie Jones to supermodels.
“It might be the wig but Gab is looking a little like Naomi Campbell,” said one person, while another added, “You look different but in a good way. Younger, refreshed.”
A fifth follower seemed torn between a compliment, adding, “You look phenomenal!!! But this lip combo is nassstyyyyy!!! Love what ever color that is!”
The reaction from fans on social media revived a familiar guessing game. Whenever a photograph looks different from the “Gabrielle Union” people remember and love, some commenters start looking for evidence of cosmetic work.
The actress faced similar scrutiny at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Images of her at the Games prompted online speculation about fillers and surgery.
That October, photographs from the Academy Museum Gala set off another round of questions. Some viewers focused on the shape of her cheeks and suggested procedures; others thought contouring or lighting could explain the difference.
Neither appearance established that Union had undergone surgery.
Union later addressed one of the rumors herself, according to People.
Asked about facelift speculation in December 2024, she pointed to the lifting effect of a high ponytail and said she had never disappeared for the months she suggested a facelift recovery would require. It was a cheeky answer to people studying her face like a before-and-after chart.
She has also been open about trying beauty treatments.
In a Harper’s Bazaar interview, Union said Botox did not work for her and named platelet-rich plasma facials as a favorite. But Union made clear that sharing her personal skincare choices isn’t an open invitation for online critics to dissect her appearance.
“For myself, I’ve tried all kinds of s—t,” he said. “Some things don’t work—like, my body absorbs Botox like Skittles, so that’s not really an option for me, because it doesn’t last.”
Union put her view of other people’s choices more simply: “If you like it, I love it.” Of her own appearance, she said, “Now I want to look like myself.”
Ironically, earlier in the summer, many were saying the complete opposite.
When she recently reconnected with her “Daddy’s Little Girls” cast earlier this month, no one was asking if the NAACP Image Award winner did anything to her face.
But everyone wanted to know why she looked so young, where Idris Elba was, and if there is going to be a sequel.
For now, Union is giving Milan a fashion moment. And Instagram is giving her some unsolicited feedback. Whatever her new look is, fans aren’t feeling it and hope she gets back to her old self.
But it isn’t up to them. The woman in Prada still gets to decide what Gabrielle Union looks like.
