Gabrielle Union In A Red Donna Karan Dress On HelloBeautiful

Source: JD Barnes / for HelloBeautiful

Beauties, allow me to take a moment to reflect on our biggest cover star yet — Gabrielle Union. In the words of the great image architect Law Roach, “get you a stylist with an archive.” The Truth Be Told actress is stunning in a radiant red Donna Karan dress from the archives on our February 2023 cover; styled by Thomas Kikis.

I’ll always remember where I was when she said, ‘yes.’ Thanks to some amazing Black women — Syreta Oglesby and Evan Seymour — we were able to lock in the beloved actress with big style. And we got to work immediately on the creative direction. We settled on what I called, “Queen Of Hearts,” a Valentine’s Day-inspired theme that oozes romance and elegance. We narrowed it down to ‘me too.’ Movement founder and former HB x MN cover star Tarana Burke, conducted the cover story interview, and just like that, everything was coming together.

Gabrielle is promoting her role in Apple TV+’s Truth Be Told, where she portrays a high school principal on a mission to raise awareness around sexual violence against Black girls. She is the embodiment of I am my sister’s keeper.

I arrived to set eager to tell Union just how much it meant to me, and the little Black girl inside of me who dreamed of being an EIC back in the day, that she gave us a chance. So often, Black talent refuses to work with Black media.

HB is Black-owned, we work with a Black woman-owned company and I am a proud Black woman at the helm and so is my boss. When you read our cover story, you’ll come across the question, of who protects Black women and Gabrielle’s answer: “other Black women.” So this cover is dedicated to Black women existing in tribes and uplifting one another.

Catch in this issue, a funny rapid-fire interview with Gabrielle Union and her most stylish roles.

In the editorial spread, Union also dons looks by Richard Quinn and Wanda Nylon. Keeps scrolling for all the looks from our NYC shoot.