LaTisha Chong: Hairstylist behind Serena Williams' iconic Vogue cover dies at 32
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: LaTisha Chong, the beloved hairstylist who was behind Serena Williams' appearance on the September 2022 cover of Vogue, has died aged 32 after a prolonged fight with breast cancer. Chong was a member of a wave of young black women that revolutionized the fashion industry by creating hairstyles for athletes like Williams and actress Tracee Ellis Ross as well as other celebrities in the fashion world.
According to The New York Times, LaTisha was born in Trinidad and Tobago and moved to the United States at the age of six together with her family. Prior to beginning her career as a professional hairstylist, she served in the US Air Force after enlisting at the age of 19. She received her honorable medical release from the military in the year 2014. Chong also obtained her degree in biology from Charleston Southern University, a Christian institution, in 2017.
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According to an article by Vogue, "For our recent Vogue cover, she was in bad shape, but she really made sure that she did the shoot. She had an idea for the hair, doing it with all the colors that Serena likes, and she bought all these hair options and spent time dyeing them. She was a genius with wigs — it’s really hard on shoots to get Black women’s hair to be super perfect and beautiful. She really took care of Serena’s hair, she washed and braided it, did all these things, because she was really about hair care as well."
When Chong was eleven years old, she started sweeping the floors at a salon. Over time, she worked her way up and learned the skills from her mother, who was also a hairstylist. Chong started observing the neighborhood salons in Brooklyn's Flatbush that served a primarily Caribbean clientele. LaTisha’s sister Afesha Chong said to The New York Times, “Black hair is a family thing in our neighborhood. Everyone comes to the salons on Saturday, and you learn to nurture the hair but also the soul. Latisha picked that up quickly.”
Meanwhile, Ellis Ross recounted to WWD via email, “I met LaTisha in September 2021 when we worked together for my Harper’s Bazaar cover, styled by editor in chief Samira Nasr and shot by Renell Medrano, and she created some epic curls for that editorial. I then got to play with her again for the 2021 Met Gala, where she cut and styled a slick, angular bob to go with my Balenciaga couture. I then brought her in to create rich, textured styles for ‘Expand Your Pattern,’ an international campaign for my hair care line, Pattern Beauty.”
“LaTisha had a real love of natural textured hair and that is what brought our work together. I am so grateful for the contribution she made to my own hair story and the hair story I’m telling through Pattern. Sending all the love to her son, family, friends & loved ones,” Ross added. The Serena Williams Vogue cover was Chong’s last significant job before her disease confined her to a wheelchair. Chong is survived by her parents Darlene and Garrick, sisters Afesha and Tenisha, and her 12-year-old son Malachi.