Aevin Dugas Hands Over Largest Afro Crown to Jessica Martinez
On Guinness World Records Day 2025, Aevin Dugas, who held the Guinness World Record for the largest afro on a living person for 15 years, officially passed the title to new record holder Jessica Jess L. Martinez during a special ceremony at a hair salon in New York City.
Jess’s afro measured 11.42 inches tall, 12.2 inches wide, and six feet two inches in circumference, surpassing the previous record in all three categories.
Jessica L. Martinez is a justice advocate and the creator and CEO of Somebody’s Auntie. Her journey to natural hair began in college in 2014, when she looked in the mirror after a straightening session and realised that straight, flat hair was not a true reflection of who she was, that she was someone with too much personality to be contained by heat styling, and went cold-turkey on straighteners that same day.
She went cold-turkey on heat styling that day. After people on social media flooded her comment section with suggestions to submit her hair to Guinness World Records, she decided to attempt the record
Aevin Dugas is a core member of the beauty community who has long advocated for cultural pride and uniqueness while educating others on the benefits of mindful haircare. She first set the record in 2010, lost it briefly to Simone Williams in 2020, then reclaimed it in 2021 with a natural afro measuring 25 cm tall, 26 cm wide, and 165 cm in circumference.
She was inducted as a Guinness World Records Icon in 2025. Speaking at the handover ceremony, Aevin stated, “I always wanted to pass it, not just have it snatched out of my hand. Keep people’s hands out of your head. Don’t just let anybody style your hair; not everyone understands natural hair.”
Both women described the handover as a celebration of self-love rather than competition. Aevin stated that the meeting was never about rivalry; at its heart, both she and Martinez were simply trying to inspire people to love themselves, and that the spirit between them was one of pure love.
Jess addressed this, saying that meeting Aevin in person made the achievement feel even more real and meaningful than breaking the record itself, describing it as a moment that deepened her pride in what she had accomplished.
