Key Points
- Living in Australia, Mily Candelo is a Venezuelan hair braider with Colombian parents
- She fulfilled her 'dream' of styling the hair of several Colombian players before a match in the 2023 Women's World Cup
- Braiding is an extremely complex process and few Spanish-speaking stylists in Australia can do it
From a young age, Mily Candelo watched her mother braid the hair of clients at their home in Guacara, Venezuela.
Today, Melbourne-based Ms Candelo is herself a specialist in hair braiding, a practice she says has long been closely intertwined with historical and cultural identity.
Braider Mily Candelo with Colombian striker Linda Caicedo. Credit: Mily Candelo
“That's how I started,” she tells SBS Spanish, “and in that process, I accepted my roots [because] I used to straighten my hair.”
This acceptance meant leaving “her Afro hair natural" and braiding her hair herself.
She says that before becoming a hair braider and micropigmentation specialist, she worked in several industries outside the beauty sector.
Braiding is a term used to describe a traditional hair style in which strands of hair are finely interwoven close to the scalp, Ms Candelo explains.
For us, women of African descent, braids are part of our culture, they have been part of who we are, ever since we were children.Mily Candelo
These braids are often done in simple, straight lines, for both men and women, but the hair can also be braided in geometric shapes, which traditionally often served to identify an individual's kinship, age, ethnic group and even religion.
A message from Linda
Putting together a hairstyle with braids on African hair is complex and it can take up to four hours, she says.
Source: Pixabay
Mily Candelo and Linda Caicedo. Credit: Mily Candelo
But after a month of intense games and training sessions, the braids of several Afro-Colombian players began to lose their glamour.
That's when Ms Candelo received an unexpected message from the team's teenage star forward Linda Caicedo.
“I was checking social media while talking to my brother when I saw a message,” says Ms Candelo.
I tell my brother, wait a minute because I just got a message from Linda. And he asks me, Linda? Yes, Linda Caicedo!Mily Candelo
Unable to hide her joy, she says she responded immediately.
“[Linda Caicedo in the message] tells me that 'several girls on the team and I are interested in getting our hair done'.”
Mily braiding Ivon Chacón's hair. Credit: Mily Candelo
“There I met them, and when I arrived she [Linda] said to the other girls who needed braids, 'Girls! She's the braider, the braider is here!'”
After the meeting, Ms Candelo was invited to travel to Sydney to fix the braids of several players on the Thursday before the round of 16 match against England.
It was an extremely long and emotional day for the Colombian fan.
“I started braiding their hair from seven in the morning until 11 at night. We had breaks, of course,” she says.
“What I treasure most from the experience is that they treated me excellently, they made me feel part of the team, and I went to breakfast, lunch and dinner with them, and I even went shopping with them.”
From left to right: Colombian players Jorelyn Carabali, Ivon Chacón, Daniela Caracas and Linda Caicedo with Mily Candelo. Credit: Mily Candelo
She says it was unforgettable to witness such strong team camaraderie.
“There tends to be this stigma that sometimes women can't work together, but what I saw was the opposite. I witnessed a united team. I sat at the table with all the girls and it was as if they were all sisters and lifelong friends. That's what I felt, because I was treated in that way as well.”
The Colombian national team made history by advancing to the quarterfinals of the Women's World Cup for the first time.
Although they bowed out to eventual finalists England, Ms Candelo says the team did the country proud on and off the pitch.
“I saw a lot of unity, a lot of humility, the fans came up and asked (the players) for photos and they would gladly pose with them for pictures with every single person who approached them,” she says.
