8x Hair History

The aesthetic ethos of ‘Black is beautiful’ was a powerful element during the civil rights movement in the 1960s in the United States. The idea of ‘natural’ hair that was not chemically treated or straightened became a potent symbol of Black empowerment, as it rejected European, White standards of beauty. The afro as a natural Black hair style rejected White beauty norms, but also White ideas of what constitutes professionalism, civility, and grooming. The prominent scholar and civil rights activist Angela Davis made this conviction highly visible and influential. Her afro, combined with her outspoken opposition to racism, sexism, and the prison system, made her an iconic figure within the movement.

The afro pick makes values and ideals visible. This 19th-century Congolese comb, for example, reflects care for beauty and grooming through its refined craftsmanship and ornamentation. A century later, a similar form carried a different message in the iconic Black Power comb with its raised-fist handle, which signaled pride in African roots and resistance to racial oppression. While the Congolese comb highlights aesthetics and the dignity of personal grooming, the Black Power comb makes an explicit political statement. Yet both objects share an Afrocentric aesthetic that exceeds their practical use, celebrating afro hair as a site of identity, pride, and self-expression.

This hat is inspired by the isicholo hairstyle worn by Zulu women, in which the hair is shaped into a flared, round, hat-like form that often signifies maturity and married status. In the nineteenth century, the hairstyle became increasingly elaborate: its shape and height varied, but this also made it heavy and impractical. Still, the style remained associated with beauty and special occasions. As a result, the hairstyle eventually evolved into an actual hat, allowing for more variation in height and shape.

Oumou Sy (1952) is an influential and globally respected Senegalese fashion designer. At the age of thirteen, the fashion icon opened her first studio, marking the start of her successful career. Today, she is still considered the queen of the Dakar fashion scene, with her striking designs for catwalks and films. In her work, she interweaves high fashion, textiles, and costume. She draws on rich Senegalese traditions, which she renews with a contemporary perspective, as in this haute couture wig.

Within different Rastafari sects, locs, also known as dreadlocks, are powerful because they can connect people to God and divine energy. To cut your hair would mean cutting off that connection. Locs have become synonymous with Rastafari, especially because of Bob Marley’s iconic hair.Locs are also linked to Black struggles against white, colonial systems of oppression. Choosing to loc your hair is a rejection of white, European, Colonial beauty standards that are considered artificial and vain. Letting hair grow naturally, without cutting, straightening or styling it is a celebration of Afrocentric ways of styling oneself.

For Dennis Rodman, one of the greatest basketball defenders of all time, hair was an important part of his style and public persona. His unique and always-changing hairstyles were part of how he presented himself as a nonconventional rule breaker, criticising not just comportment, but also notions of gender. Today, the images of Rodman’s multicoloured hairstyles still circulates as a symbol of his rebellious nature.