“Creativity is a muscle you have to exercise.
It doesnt just happen,” says Harvey.
And in the strength of her work, that shows.
Olivia Lifungula
I grew up in Jamaica.
My mother was a hairdresser, so I’ve always been around hair.
I started hairdressing professionally when I was 17, in London.
Akinola Davies
I’ve always loved the tactility of hair; Im quite a tactile person.
I love making things.
I love using my hands.
Hours of braiding forThis Hair of Mine
I like to feel things.
That’s why I was drawn to hair from a young age.
There are things from my upbringing I incorporate into my work every day.
Kristin-Lee Moolman
I knew things that no one else knew how to do.
The best schooling was working for years in aBlack hair salon.
Hours of braiding forThis Hair of Mine
But the technical part of hairdressing doesn’t motivate me.
I’m inspired by telling stories.
It’s easy to do a really slick pony with a center part.
What’s not easy is to make someone feel something when they look at a picture.
What conversations could happen [from a look]?
Hopefully, when you look at my pictures, you get a visceral reaction, more than anything.
My work is all about an illusion.
These runway shows are very spontaneous and very high-adrenaline.
I know people say this often, but it’s not to be underestimated how extremely powerful that is.
I don’t have a big dream of becoming a household name and being really famous.
That’s what I want to leave behind.
As told to Paige Stables
A version of this story originally appeared in the February 2022 issue of Allure.
