Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union celebrate daughter Zaya’s runway debut: ‘Just an icon living’
Zaya Wade on the runway (L) and Zaya Wade with parents Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade (R). (Getty/Twitter/@DwyaneWade)
Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade are trans daughter Zaya Wade’s number one fans after celebrating her runway debut at Paris Fashion Week.
Actor Gabrielle, 50, and former basketball star Dwyane, 41, already made headlines for their heartwarming speech after Zaya, 15, legally changed her name and gender on 25 February.
While accepting their President’s award at the NAACP ceremony, Dwyane said: “Zaya, you’ve made me a better human just simply by being who you were born to be – a baby girl, Zaya Wade.” He also spoke about the importance of fighting for the rights of Black trans people everywhere.
They continued their brilliant allyship as Zaya made her runway debut for Miu Miu during Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday 7 March. Zaya stormed the runway sporting an olive green dress and jacket with a brown handbag.
Taking to Instagram Dwyane shared a montage of the special day, with Gabrielle and Dwyane cheering Zaya on from the front row. He captioned it: “She’s arrived” and added on his Instagram story: “I’m not crying, you are”.
He even commented under Zaya’s Instagram post: “To witness your grace is something Zaya Wade, I am proud of you.”
Gabrielle also shared her support, reposting clips on her story and posting on Twitter. Speaking to ET after the legal name change, she said: “She was so happy and we were just like *sings* ‘Say my name, say my name,’
“‘Cause to some people it just feels like paperwork but to her it’s her truth and it’s her reality and we support that. Being in her orbit, you wanna catch up, you wanna keep up.” Adding that Zaya’s sights are set on MIT.
While Dwyane added: “When it comes to the transgender community, Black transgender community, even though we wish our 15-year-old daughter could just be and just go under the radar, her calling is bigger.
“So we’re gonna use this opportunity to continue to keep speaking, continue to keep supporting — until we get change.”
There has been no shortage of support for Zaya, who came out in 2020 and first filed for her name and gender to be legally changed in August last year.
In the comments under her runway post, Wicked star Cynthia Ervio said: “Beautiful baby girl. Congratulations”. Tommy Dorfman added: “oh she ATE”. And The Last of Us star Storm Reid wrote: “Ate. Congratulations!”
While runway stylist Thomas Christos shared a heartfelt Instagram, writing he had “tears in my eyes”. “Thank you Dwyane Wade for your endless trust in my vision. And thank you Zaya Wade for showing me what it means to believe in yourself,” he added.
Dwyane and Gabrielle have consistently spoken in support of their daughter since she came out publicly, dedicating several interviews to championing her and defending her against online and real-life hate.
And Zaya herself has shown she is being unapologetically herself, in a sweet interview talking to her past self with Logo TV, she said: “Don’t think about any kind of hatred that comes from the outside world ’cause it does not matter and there is no point in dwelling on it.”
Zaya’s fashion career is only just beginning, already making waves back in September in a stunning Tiffany & Co. campaign.
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