The 2026 US Open is upon us and Naomi Osaka is warming up with a purple and black headband, cuffs and a brand new set of pure hair cornrows. Each season, she makes an entrance onto the courts together with her unmatched style. This Open, nonetheless, its credentials have been a tribute to the intersection of magnificence, style and sports activities by way of none apart from certainly one of basketball’s greats: Allen Iverson.
View this publish on Instagram
Like Osaka, Iverson was recognized for making statements on the courtroom, from asking his aunt to braid his hair on the sidelines to taking part in with pure, intricate hair braid types. Throughout Fan Week on the US Open, the Japanese-American tennis skilled referenced a method much like hers in the course of the 2003 USA vs. Puerto Rico match throughout her apply session.
Her pure hair was braided into six rows of big zigzag cornrows that reached midway down her again. Then, by the point she performed her first official match on the second day of the Open, she switched up her fashion, swapping zigzags for sewn-in curves, a rendition much like Iverson’s braids throughout her Philadelphia 76ers recreation towards the Toronto Raptors in 2004.
Her massive pure hair braids had been stitched and curled in alternating instructions, forming a semi-spiral sample on her scalp. But from behind, the curves seemed extra like straight backs, straightening earlier than mixing into her brown-highlighted hair. Worn casually in a low bun with a black and purple headband to put down its edges, her first-round tribute ended with a 7-6 victory over Anastasia Zakharova.
View this publish on Instagram
And if the US Open is any indication of New York Vogue Week tendencies, hairstylist and backstage veteran Lacy Redway would know. At simply 14 years previous, her first job was working in a braid workshop. “Braid designs are again,” Redway stated in an Instagram publish as she flipped by way of a photograph album of the hair she braided greater than 20 years in the past.
From micro-braids of human hair to criss-cross cornrows, “these types existed again then,” she says. Now, “all these strategies are coming again.” On TikTok, the hashtag “Pure Hair Braids” has over 3,000 posts whereas “Braid Types” has reached 1.4 million. And, with research proving that artificial and human hair extensions each pose well being dangers, like in Osaka, an increasing number of black girls are paying to have their pure hair braided into intricate types.