2 min readJul 9, 2026 01:58 PM IST
Candido ‘Coco’ Fernandes, a barber popular with NBA stars in Boston, received a WhatsApp message last month, requesting him to give trims and fades to a couple of clients. These turned out to be Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele.
Coco’s team might end up being the only pros working with both teams facing off in the quarters.
The private number message as per OneFootball read, “Can you cut KM’s hair tonight at 9.30 pm?”
It took him a smite of time to register who KM was and then Fernandes who owns 2016 origin Mobar Cuts, headed to the France team hotel. Dembele and Marcus Thuram were also lined up to receive the fades. But that was after Desiree Doue said, “We found the best,” a NBC Boston video showed.
OneFootball notes that Mbappe was so impressed with his scissors sorcery that he immediately recommended him to his next opponent – Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi. A week later in June, Coco cut Morocco and their manager. Fernandes would subsequently become the in-house barber for both teams, giving them smart fades.
The Waltham barber from Massachusetts have cut Kyrie Irving and various assorted celebrities. His earliest was Celtics player Jayson Tatum. But even he claimed to be slightly intimidating when it came to football superstars.
“Last week I worked with France national team, couple of guys, Dembele and Mbappe.
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It’s my job to make them look and feel right. When I realised these were global superstars. It almost became little more intimidating. I was able to stay calm. I really take pride in my craft, symmetry. Being able to deliver a piece of my system to them makes me feel like I have a part in their performance,” he would say.
Coco is quite the Celtics specialist. He once gave Celtics’ Marcus Smart a green hairstyle, as his counterpart ‘Jawz’ rustles up the green dyes and braids for NBA stars, according to WCBV 5. Grant Williams is reported to have paid USD 600 for a haircut from Coco once, which was five times in tip than the actual cost of the haircut.
