“It’s designed based on Kaav’s nursery… The color palette, the textures, the prints…” Yes, you read that right. At just six years old, Kaavia Wade is already serving as the creative spark behind not one but two of her mom, Gabrielle Union Wade’s ventures—PROUDLY and Flawless. But here’s the catch: when it comes to developing real solutions, inspiration alone doesn’t cut it. And Kaavia, knowingly or not, seems to be providing some very real feedback in that department too.
Back in 2022, Dwyane and Gabrielle Union Wade teamed up to launch PROUDLY, a brand born out of their firsthand experiences raising Kaavia. They saw a glaring gap in the market—products made specifically for babies with melanated skin—and decided to do something about it. PROUDLY now offers everything from skincare to haircare and even clothing, all thoughtfully designed to cater to the unique needs of children of color. And then there’s Flawless, a line that took shape from Kaavia’s very own haircare routine.
One standout moment, reported by PEOPLE, involved Dwyane Wade trying to do Kaavia’s hair—a scene many parents might relate to. That simple yet telling incident helped shine a light on the need for better products for textured hair. More recently, Gabrielle Union Wade gave us another glimpse into this reality on Instagram.
She shared a video on her IG story, showing her in action, doing Kaavia’s hair. “I was SWEATINGGGGGGG All that hair is all fun and games until she decides to go swimming [laughing emojis] @flawlessbygu X @theproudlyco,” the caption read. A perfect blend of beauty, parenting, and pure, unfiltered realness, Union playfully warned that all that gorgeous hair is great—until Kaavia decides to turn into a mermaid and dive into the pool because it is no easy task to maintain these long hairs! Mumma worried?
Managing textured hair is no joke—it takes the right tools, plenty of patience, and a solid routine. As Gabrielle has often explained, wash days are an event: detangling, conditioning, moisturizing, and protective styling all play a role. And who knows? That swim-day struggle she just posted about might be the push for the next genius product in her self-care empire. Especially when Gab has recently been focusing on expanding one of her brands.
Gabrielle Union Wade’s partnership with the 123YO store chain to boost the expansion of her brand
Union Wade has something exciting up her sleeve for parents and little ones alike. If you’ve been following her journey with the PROUDLY Baby Care brand, you’ll be glad to know it’s growing yet again—this time with a fresh partnership with the 123YO store chain, JCPenny, and a stylish new kids’ clothing line now joining the mix.
“We’ve been working on this for quite a while, and it’s finally here and it’s even better than I dreamed,” Union shared with PEOPLE during a heartfelt moment at the launch held on May 20 at the Babylist Showroom in Beverly Hills. Her excitement was contagious as she introduced this next chapter. Union and her husband, NBA legend Dwyane Wade, began PROUDLY in 2022, originally focusing on baby skincare. They expanded into haircare in 2023. But clothing? That wasn’t even on the radar—until their customers spoke up.
“Hair was always after skin care, and just listening to our customers, we’re like, what can we do more? What do you want to see from us? And baby clothes kind of kept coming up, and we were like, let’s just see… Luckily, we were already in partnership with JCPenney for Flawless and the SimStyled Experience, and we were like, let’s go to them first and see if there’s synergy there. And they were like, ‘Absolutely. Whatever you guys want to do.’”
And just like that, the idea took off. Staying true to the brand’s roots, the new line is inspired by Kaavia James Union Wade, the couple’s lively and opinion-filled 7-year-old daughter, because who better to set the tone for kids’ fashion than a mini style icon in the making? And then the fact that Dwyane and Gabrielle Union Wade know the issues that could come because of Kaavia, the possibility is that Union could be building something huge.
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