Can you believe it’s been five years since Kim Kardashian and Kanye West had North? Since Nori’s birth, she’s been a veritable clothes horse, wearing custom Alexander Wang, baby Balmain and micro Givenchy. She’s a fashion force to be reckoned with making her in more than one way just like her parents.
The day before her fifth birthday North West and her mother headed for ice cream at Cool Mess in New York City. Kim wore head-to-toe black with a cross-body belt back and thigh-high boots, while Nori looked spirited in a highlighter pink adidas tracksuit with a unicorn under her arm. The following day Kim also opted for all black while her little one swap the athleisure for a tiered tulle skirt and silver leggings finished with a pair of hater-blocking sunglasses. Though the ensembles seem innocuous the social media world is up in arms over an element of North West’s look: her straightened hair.
The pictures of North with pin-straight hair complete with extensions prompted Twitter users to comment: ‘North West is still a baby and has straight hair. I know we all had straight hair too at that age but it’s 2018! The enlightened YouTube era! Come on KimberYe get it together’. The milieu of the moment is informed about placing Western beauty ideals on WoC and in the case of a child as young as North many see it as inappropriate to white-wash her hair. Twitter user Hailey Bradford is asking for her Kim to ‘ Leave her natural hair alone’.
On Keeping Up With The Kardashians the Armenian American has encouraged her child’s ringlets and gone as far as learning about braiding her biracial daughter’s natural hair. That said, Kim has also been accused on multiple occasions of cultural appropriation - including an image of her with cornrows last year that received further backlash when the influencer to write ‘Zero fucks, please, thanks’ rather than give an apology.
Without knowing whether this new hairstyle was requested by Kim, Kanye or North it’s not for any of us to pass judgement. But, then again when has that ever stopped social media