Dwyane Wade said his beard ‘needed a break.’ His new look has fans doing a double take
TheGrio...
The 44-year-old traded his longtime beard for a goatee and pencil mustache — with Gabrielle Union’s approval.
Dwyane Wade’s beard had become as recognizable as his step-back. This week, he retired it.
The 44-year-old posted a carousel to Instagram on Sunday, Aug. 23, showing off a considerably lighter look built around a trimmed goatee and pencil mustache. He framed the reveal as a challenge to his followers, asking how many years he’d shaved off along with the beard and noting it “needed a break.”
The post ran through several angles, including a short video where he turns his head to show the profile, all shot in a backwards white cap and white tee. He closed the set with a throwback of his younger self, letting the comparison make his argument for him.
The reaction he seemed most interested in came from home. Wade shared a photo to his Stories of Gabrielle Union kissing his cheek, adding a brief confirmation that she approves of the change.
The couple, who married in August 2014, have built one of the more visible partnerships in sports and entertainment, with Wade regularly speaking about their dynamic in public.
Speaking with PEOPLE at the Fragrance Foundation Awards in June, he described how attuned he is to Union’s approach to scent, saying she knows exactly which combinations he responds to and that recognizing one signals the kind of evening ahead.
That conversation tied into his role as global ambassador for Intuition, a men’s fragrance line from Aramis, a partnership Wade has framed around confidence and presence rather than the product itself.
Wade and Union share daughter Kaavia, born in 2018. He is also father to Zaire and Zaya from his first marriage, son Xavier, and serves as legal guardian to his nephew Dahveon Morris.
Whether the new look sticks is another question. Beards of that tenure tend to return, though based on the response so far, he may be in no hurry.