Including Collaborations with Telfar Clemens and Serena Williams, the Hair Stylist’s Iconic Work Helped Shape a New Movement in American Beauty
Hair stylist Latisha Chong, whose visionary work appeared on the cover of Vogue and helped shape the looks of many inspiring Black creators, has passed away at the age of 32. Her death, which was not widely reported at the time, occurred in a hospital in Manhattan on July 19. Her sister, Afesha Chong, shared that the cause was metastasized breast cancer.
Latisha Chong was at the forefront of a new vanguard of Black American creatives working to inspire and uplift new perceptions of beauty. Her noteworthy clients and collaborators included designer Telfar Clemens, actor Tracee Ellis Ross, musician Rosalía, and playwright Jeremy O. Harris.
Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Chong moved to the United States at the age of six together with her family. Her mother also worked as a hairstylist, and she learned the tricks of the trade from an early age at her hair salon in Brooklyn. Chong served in the U.S. Air Force, enlisting at the age of 19. She left the armed forces with an honorable medical discharge in 2014. After graduating from Charleston Southern University, where she studied biology, in 2017, she became a professional hairstylist, and quickly worked her way to becoming one of the fashion industry’s most sought-after beauty creators.
Chong’s most recent work was her stunning Vogue cover featuring Serena Williams, for the magazine’s September 2022 issue.
Latisha Chong will be sorely missed – particularly by those who knew and loved her effervescent personality and commitment to her craft – but the power of her work lives on, continuing to shape our ideas of human beauty for the better.
