NAMES AND FACES
Heads up: Hair Wars is due in Troy
November 18, 2007
by JOHN SMYNTEK ~ DETROIT FREE PRESS

Mark any of those new 2008 calendars you get for Jan. 20.
That's when the next installment of the Hair Wars "Dream to the Extreme" way-over-the-top styling competition will take place at the Hilton Hotel in Troy, 5500 Crooks Road at I-75.

David Humphries, the Detroit founder of the competition, has been the subject of some major wordage at Style.com (the online home of Vogue & W) and in the December Essence magazine. Humphries is credited as the inventor of "hair entertainment." He is also the subject of the "Hair Wars" book (PowerHouse Books, $39.95) written by Johanna Lenander with the requisite photos of the outrageous 'dos by her photographer husband David Yellen.

Lenander described a Hair Wars show as follows: "The shows are combinations of hair and music and dance-offs. I didn't portray that in the book because I was focusing more on the style, but it gets really crazy. Everything is really themed -- like this one look was supposed to be about an angel and the devil, so the two guys who did the style came out on stage dressed as an angel and the devil and started rapping -- and there was fire and all!"

More at 313-534-8318 and
www.hairwarsustour.com







Steven Noss. Fantasy hairstylist presents and signs Hair Wars. Eso Won Books, 4331 Degnan Bl, L.A., (323) 290-1048. Thur at 7. Also Fri at 7 at Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Bl, West Hollywood, (310) 659-3110.



























   Hair by Stephanie Moye' ~ Pittsburgh, PA

"It's not actually that outrageous when you talk to them about it," Johanna Lenander says, referring to the traveling "fantasy hair" showcase that is the subject of the new book she wrote with her husband, photographer David Yellen. But one flip through "Hair Wars" (powerHouse Books), a collection of colorful portraits displaying triumphs in styling (and over gravity), and the definition of outrageous seems entirely subjective. Started in the mid-eighties by party promoter David Humphries (a.k.a Hump the Grinder), the concept of "hair entertainment" has grown from battles at Detroit nightclubs to a national touring event promoting the talent of "hair entertainers." Here, Yellen tells us what compelled him to capture this specific subculture on film.

What attracted you to Hair Wars in the first place?
I'm essentially attracted to anything that's a unique subculture-cultural moments that are phasing out. That's what makes humans unique and I think it's important to preserve these things. If you take pictures, people will notice them-or at least talk about them.

What about this particular subculture continues to hold your interest?
I like meeting the different hairdressers and figuring out their philosophies, why they do it-some are doing it because they want to push to it to the extreme and some have really intense philosophies about it. Some of the stylists will meditate for a while and they'll dream up a hairstyle and that's how they'll get their inspiration. And I can kind of relate to it because I do that with photographs. Sometimes you just get an idea in your head and go for it.

What is a typical Hair Wars show like?
The shows are combinations of hair and music and dance-offs. I didn't portray that in the book because I was focusing more on the style, but it gets really crazy. Everything is really themed-like this one look was supposed to be about an angel and the devil, so the two guys who did the style came out on stage dressed as an angel and the devil and started rapping-and there was fire and all!

So there's definitely a performance element to it too, then?
Oh, definitely.

What is the craziest style you've ever seen at one of the shows?
This one stylist, Big Bad D, put a fishbowl with Japanese fighting fish that probably weighed about 50 pounds into this girl's hair. And while she was walking around, one of the fish kept flopping out onto the runway! The whole thing is like a big crazy fashion show.

And as far as the fashion element is concerned, how do clothes factor into the overall performance?
They all make their own costumes, and every show they put on has a theme. But usually the clothes also involve hair because they like to keep the motif, so it's like being a bear. They have a show coming up in Detroit called "Dare to Dream"-it's Martin Luther King-inspired. I wouldn't be surprised if someone sculpts his head out of hair.
-Celia Ellenberg
Photo: David Yellen
MONDAY,  NOVEMBER 12, 2007

Copyright HAIR WARS U.S. Tour
Website designed by www.tcarlitagraphics.com

SKETCHERS, HAIR WARS AND COURTING VENUS
SUNDAY, November 6
From the Sometimes They Write Themselves Department: Hump the Grinder's Hair Wars: "Hair drama over the edge . . . hair creations and hair performances like you never seen before representing hair entertainers from all across America . . . co-sponsored by Insatiable Pleasures' Ladies Only Toy Tour." V20 the Venue, 81 Aquarium Way, Long Beach; Sun., Nov. 6, 6:05 p.m.; $25, $40 VIP. (310) 877-5251 or (800) 838-8100.

Boy, was Keith Richards disappointed when he found out he had to work the same night as Hair Wars. Yep, The Rolling Stones are among us at the Hollywood Bowl, and if you have a ticket (a pricey $63.50 to $454.50 a pop from the box office, not even a scalper) to the sold-out show, you know what to do and where to do it. Pant, pant.
Peacocks, bibles, olympic rings, and birthday cakes are some of the large scale creations you'll see in this colorful mind-blowing book of hair styles.
Started in Detroit in the mid-80's, "hair off" events began as weekly "Wednesday Night Hair Connection" parties founded by David Humphries, a.k.a. "Hump the Grinder". In 1994, these parties eventually grew into national Hair Wars showcases that toured the country, stopping in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Detroit. Using endless supplies of hair extensions,  participating stylists duked it out for the biggest, boldest, and most fearless masterpieces.
The collection of photographs by David Yellen features creations by the most famous Hair Wars stylists, each just as fearless as their 'dos- Raphael Isho, who bought his first hair salon at age 14; Big Bad D, who shows up in self designed costumes and knee length dreadlocks; "the white boy" Steven Noss; dapper Dave Ray; Ms. "Color Me" Vic; and Wishbone, known for his extravagant full-on hair outfits.
Hair Wars: Photographs by David Yellen, Introduction and Interviews by Johanna Lenander, published by powerHouse Books: www.powerhousebooks.com

Style File:
The Online Home of Vogue & W
HAIR ENTERTAINMENT

Steven Noss created a heliport with a "hairycopter" perched atop that he managed to get airborne for a few moments. He came out onstage with a remote control to facilitate takeoff, but the white boy from Pittsburgh wasn't allowed to leave the stage until he "showed the soul in him," requested the MC, with a booty dance. He happily shook his groove thang. Kevin Carter, Detroit-based and a 10-year veteran of the Hair Wars tour, offered up beyond-Las Vegas creations with the Lily, the Spider, and the E-Bride. He added a bit of drama by applying the finishing touches onstage - snapping one last bloom into the Lily, and adding another layer of web into the Spider that made clearing the stage lighting a dubious proposition.




Hair by Kevin Carter,
Salon Jacqueline, Detroit
Model: Andria Harmon

Hair by Kevin Carter, Salon
Jacqueline, Detroit
Model: Porsha Patterson

Hair and outfit by Steven
Noss, Weave Artistry
International, Pittsburgh
Model: Erin Green

While a few designers, such as Carter and Noss, showed their lock looks with a traditional runway presentation, most of the "hair entertainers" had dozens of models performing choreographed dance routines, with nods to old school, new school, middle school, live rappers and even that old standby, lip synching. And size didn't matter: Large, larger and largest beauties shimmied and flounced down the runway. Sometimes more is fabulously more.
Yet despite the often complicated concoctions being worked on - some designers started building months ago - backstage was refreshingly calm and friendly. No screaming. No attitude. No dagger eyes. No noses pointed heavenward. Such tranquility apparently breeds punctuality, because the show not only started on time but ran like clockwork.

Among the mane attractions was quick-witted MC LaToya Pearson, who kept things rolling with a queen-of-stream-of-consciousness delivery - and a biting sense of humor. After introducing celebrity guest Antonio Fargas (a.k.a. Huggy Bear), she called Michael Jordan to the stage. As the audience oohed, aahed and looked around, she quipped, Michael Jordan from Slauson BBQ, that is. Pearson called out the church girl and invoked the spirit, rapped about spiked hair, named every type of ponytail (including some that don't exist), sang, switched into robot-speak, then ended the first act by bringing the audience together to give her a big round of applause. She deserved it.
Hair and oufit by Lisa B.,
Turning Heads Hair Salon,
Oakland Model: Nicole Johnson

Hair and outfit by Steven
Noss, Weave Artistry International,
Pittsburgh Model: Desirée Green

It was a hairy situation, so to speak, at the Radisson Hotel by LAX last Sunday night as Hair Wars, a traveling event started by Hump the Grinder (a.k.a. David Humphries) in Detroit 15 years ago, celebrated its 10th anniversary in L.A. with a sass-'n'-frass runway presentation that showcased some of the most innovative designers working in the black hair industry. Tress titans from around the country weaved, ironed, braided, wrapped, glued and formed millions of strands of hair - real and synthetic - into imagination-defying 'dos.
Styles ranged from Afro- to Anglocentric, from wearable chic to showstopping fantasy: intricate cornrows ending in an explosion of texture and color, spiky hair punking out in pink, perky ponytails, all manner of layered shags small and tall, a blue-tinted Jeannie-esque upsweep topped by a disco ball. In fact, with a little Styrofoam, wiring and bundles of hair extensions, it seemed there was no shape that couldn't be created - a car tire, hair tiered like a wedding cake to breathtaking heights, a flower. Even skirts, bra tops and, of course, hair shirts. Pure invention.



STYLE
HAIR'S LOOKING AT YOU
BY RON ATHEY AND KATERI BUTLER
Thursday, January 15, 2004 - 12:00 am
LA Weekly
Style.com
The Online Home of Vogue Magazine
Tressy situation

















Can someone please give Hump the Grinder a reality show? Like, immediately? It's not for him—Hump's a background guy, the man behind the super-stylists who take part in Hair Wars. The stylists are the ones Hump figures ought to be stars, because, in a way, they already are. Can you build a three-tier wedding cake out of human hair, on top of someone's head? Veronica Moyé can. Here's the pitch: More than 20 years ago, DJ David Humphries, a/k/a Hump the Grinder, decided to celebrate the local Detroit scene of whacked-out 'dos by throwing a "Fantasy Hair" party. That party begat more parties, which in turn begat Hair Wars, Hump the Grinder's touring showcase of extreme coiffure. We've watched amateur singers strangle Celine Dion songs; we've watched amateur human beings eat bugs for money. We've tuned in for makeovers of automobiles, bathrooms, and Midwestern housewives. Wouldn't you rather watch "Hair Wars"? Think "Iron Chef," only with hair. Or, if you prefer, think "Project Hairway." Until someone at Bravo gets on board, alas, the only way to see top fantasy hair stylists strut their stuff is to go to a Hair Wars event, and this weekend, the show comes home to Motown, with "Dream to the Extreme." Here, Hump the Grinder spares some prep time to explain how he helped make Motor City the Hair Capital of the World.

Are people often surprised to find out that the man who invented Hair Wars does not, in fact, do hair?
They're always surprised. They're also surprised when they come to a Hair Wars show and realize that it's not a competition. Folks scream and holler at the styles they like, but we're not about prizes. Some people early on gave Hair Wars the name, but really, it's just a showcase, a way for all these talented people to have fun and get their work out in front of the public.

Given that you were never a stylist yourself, what inspired you to create an event that's all about hair?
The first thing people need to understand is that I'm from Detroit . And the next thing people need to understand is that Detroit 's always had its own thing going on when it comes to hair. Don't ask me why, but for whatever reason, a woman in Detroit can get away with wearing some crazy style to her job at the bank, and instead of the manager telling her to get back home with that, people will be asking her for the stylist's name, like, she'll be handing out business cards from the teller window. What I'm saying is, there's a culture. And back when I was deejaying, it was my job to promote a good party. I knew that hair would bring the people in. And it did.

Cards on the table: I'm from Detroit . And I've never seen anyone walking around with, say, a scale-model barbecue on her head.
No, no, Hair Wars is about the extreme, it's about the most. But I bet you have seen women with their hair built up really high, and a lot of color and a lot of flavor going on. The thing about Detroit is, there's a hair budget. You know? Out in places like L.A. , New York , Chicago , people don't set aside the money the way they do here. They've got other priorities. But in Detroit , wherever that money comes from, however much there is, there's a budget for hair. It's been that way, and it still is that way.

Why?
Because it's acceptable. Detroit 's a majority black city, right? And if you want to go back to the history, the black people who came to Detroit from the South, they were the cutting edge, migrating up here to work in the auto industry. We've always been trendsetters. Cars, music, it's all related. One of these days, I'm going to do a Hair Wars show that puts it all together.

Obviously, you're a Detroit partisan, but you've staged Hair Wars shows all over the country. How do the stylists from other cities compare?
Well, we've been doing the Hair Wars for a while now. We've gone on TV shows and sold instructional DVDs, and the Detroit stylists go to all the trade fairs and show people how it's done, and so a lot of other talented people have gotten exposed, you know? This thing has gotten so big, I mean, when we take Hair Wars on the road, some of the stylists who've been around awhile, people will be stopping them for autographs. If we could just get some real corporate backing, the possibilities are limitless.

You've said before that you think fantasy hair stylists ought to be stars. That's not necessarily an intuitive position; I mean, they're not performers.
But they are. You come to a Hair Wars show, you'll see—there's music, there's skits and choreography, and the whole time, the stylists are up there, creating something nobody's ever seen before. And anyway, look, years and years ago fashion designers were people hanging out in the background, too. If a fashion designer can be a star, why can't a hair stylist? Like I said, the possibilities are limitless. Merchandise, television shows, you name it. The mainstream is coming, just you wait.

—Maya Singer
Friday,  January 18, 2008 10:36 AM
Commentary by Bobby Campbell
Detroit Hair Wars




















Don't you hate when you live somewhere forever and then later find out that really, really cool stuff was happening there without your notice? I lived in the metro Detroit area for five years; I worked in the city and then completed graduate school in Ann Arbor. I never knew about hair wars. Not the first thing. I was totally oblivious, and this guy (pic right) lived in my city!* Not only is he a seamstress, but he is training to be a television wrestler! Why must I be tortured and tossed on the tempests of fate?
This Metro Times story has some terrific quotes from the participants as well as some great pictures. The picture for this post is taken from the article. You ought to read the article, but the summation is that Detroit hosts an intra-city hair competition amongst stylists to see who can create the most spectacular new style. This goes way beyond bobs versus mohawks and "on some whole other stuff" as they say. Flying helicopter hair, zippered compartment hair, 4-foot spider-web hair. This is not to even mention the costumes, which you have an example of here. The competition has it all.
The article also has an interesting subplot concerning race : as of the article's writing (2004), it was the first year for white contestants.
I love this description of Big Bad D. :
Big Bad D. is one of them, having first ventured into hair after he was laid off from the assembly line. To say Big Bad D. exudes masculinity is a comical understatement. A former professional bodybuilder, he's currently being courted by the WWE, the nation's premier group of pro wrestlers. This is no surprise, given his hulking 6-foot-4, rock solid, 300-pound frame. He hasn't cut his hair in more than a decade: his snakelike dreadlocks and braids are wrapped in bits of leather and twine, and graze his kneecaps. His daily wear includes a shirt torn at the chest, revealing rippling pectorals, and a pair of alligator claws hanging at his waist. His voice is a guttural rumble, and his gravelly laugh jarring enough to shake the floorboards.
"        - Detroit, for those who haven't been there, is actually lots and lots of cities agglomulated into one metro area. That's certainly not unusual for American cities but Detroit has taken it to punishing proportions. Yes, I made up "agglomulated."




















Holiday gift guide - Books
by Metro Times staff
12/5/2007
Hair Wars
by David Yellen and Johanna Lenander
powerHouse, $39.95, 96 pp.
From its roots in Detroit in mid-'80s Detroit nightclubs, Hair Wars has become a nationwide phenom, a celebration of the extended fantasies that can be balanced atop a head. Fashion writer Johanna Lenander profiles former DJ Hump the Grinder (David Humphries) who started it all, and the hair stylists who run wild in the funhouse he's built, such characters as Big Bad D (notable creations include a weave with a live fish in a bowl), Infamous Lisa B (specialty: hair halos with color-coordinated costumes) and Little Willie (inventor of the "zipper 'do" which opens to reveal, for instance, a live python). But the few pages of text are a mere prelude to the main event: David Yellen's 87 studio portraits render the models regal and fantastic. Some are enmeshed in abstract swirls of color and texture, others hoist icons from the Bible to the Pittsburgh Steelers. All ask the classic Sun Ra question: If you're not a myth, whose reality are you? -W. Kim Heron

Dallas Morning News
LIFE/TRAVEL

Hair Wars coffee-table book looks at African-American hair trade shows
08:24 AM CST on Friday, December 21, 2007







 
Hair Wars, with photographs by David Yellen, text by Johanna Lenander. $39.95. Borders Books & Music.
Photographer David Yellen (Time, Life and People) and writer Johanna Lenander (I.D., Surface and The New York Times' T) explore the jaw-dropping outrageousness and artistic coiffures from African-American hair trade shows in a new book called Hair Wars.
The arresting images in this slick photo book, which is sure to brighten any coffee table, highlight extravagant, fantasy hairdos from professional hairstylists who participate in "hair entertainment" shows around the country. Armed with limitless imagination, these stylists work with loads of human-hair pieces, pounds of glitter and lots of colorful makeup, and they incorporate unusual props (everything from fishbowls to barbecue grills and Bibles) into those hair-raising styles.
Just wait, we're betting a reality show will get cooked up about these over-the- top competitions.
David Ninh

The Detroit News
Detroit's own Hair Wars gets coffee-table book treatment
Friday, December 21, 2007 Hair Wars
What: Wild hair creations by local and national stylists
When: 6:05 p.m. Jan. 20
Where: Northfield Hilton, 5500 Crooks Road, Troy
Tickets: $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Call (313) 534-8318 or visit www.hairwarsustour.com

Ursula Watson / The Detroit News
There are hairstylists who can whip up a 'do sure to turn heads, but in the Motor City, our hairstylists are known for creating coiffures that stop traffic.
Several times a year, at events called Hair Wars, which make a stop Jan. 20 at the Northfield Hilton in Troy, strong-necked models walking down a runway balance everything from luxury cars and motorcycles to birds, flowers and even barbecue grills on their heads -- all crafted from human and synthetic hair.
Even the outfits worn by the models are often made from hair.
This bold art subculture of sorts evolved from the hyperactive imaginations of black Detroit hairstylists and is captured in a book titled "Hair Wars" (powerHouse Books, $39.95) by photographer David Yellen with Johanna Lenander, who wrote the introduction and interviews. The pair spent two years traveling to Hair Wars shows and hair salons for the book.
Yellen and Lenander, who are married, attended a Hair Wars show at the Apollo Theater in New York's Harlem three years ago. Yellen was there to take pictures for Life magazine. To say the least, he says, the experience was eye-opening. "I was looking at some of the models thinking, 'How did you fit through the doorway?'"
Yellen, whose last book, "Too Fast for Love: Heavy Metal Portraits" with co-author Chuck Klosterman, is no stranger to the fringe-dwellers of mainstream society.
"I love things that have their own unique beauty, things that are very rare. As a visual (Hair Wars), it is just stunning. It is shocking and, at the same time, hilarious."
During the Apollo hair show, Yellen met David Humphries, also known as "Hump the Grinder," who is credited for bringing hair and entertainment together in Detroit.
Hair Wars began in the mid-1980s when stylists showed off their designs in Detroit nightclubs.
"It was not about the money; it was not a contest," says Humphries, whom the New Yorker magazine crowned "the Don King of black hair entertainment." "They wanted to create something to perform in (a show or a production). Secondly, it was the advertising."
The hair shows grew in popularity, and in 1994, Humphries took what was christened "Hair Wars" on the road, taking the show to cities such as Atlanta, Miami and Los Angeles.
The shows are alive with music and choreographed dances. The hairstylists have been known to rap and sing. Over time, Detroit hairstylists became legends for their creative hair designs. Little Willie is credited with placing a zipper in hairstyles called the French roll, which could be unzipped to reveal anything from a python to a bottle of Champagne.
Michael Turner, who was known as Mr. Little, presented flashy, high-energy shows that featured hair creations such as the Hairy-copter, which has a working propeller. Before he died this year in a motorcycle accident, he made appearances on "America's Next Top Model," "The Ricki Lake Show" and, fittingly, "Ripley's Believe It or Not." Yellen's "Hair Wars" book is dedicated to Turner.
Weave artist Steven Noss took Turner's Hairy-copter one step further during an appearance on "The Ricki Lake Show." The propeller actually lifted off the model's head, bringing new meaning to flyaway hair.
"It took a month to design and two weeks to create because I had to get the physics right," says Noss of Pittsburgh. "I had to have enough hair, but not too much, so the propeller would lift off the head and fly." Noss attended Hair Wars events in Detroit and around the country for six years before he entered a fantasy hair event in 2000.
"The shows are exciting, hot, street and edgy, and I was usually the only white guy there," he laughs. "They welcomed me with open arms and especially in Detroit."
While hair shows are nothing new, Noss says there is a clear difference with Hair Wars and other hair-centric shows. "What I see at 99 percent of hair shows geared toward European hair is a hairstylist just pulls a model's hair in a ponytail and then puts some ornaments in it. Not the black shows. It is about hair and black culture, not ornaments."
Why did this hair-gone-wild concept take root in the black community? Humphries says the brash nature of fantasy hair is an extension of Detroit and its people. "We are fashionable people, trendsetters. We are an aggressive people," he says. "Think about it. It was the aggressive people who came from the South to the North to make money in the factories."
Humphries says the in-your-face attitude found at Hair Wars and in the book is not for everyone. "You can't please everybody. This book is putting it out there that this is the way it is and what we do. The focus is on hair."
While the focus of the book is hair, one can't help but marvel at some of the models in their revealing, hairy outfits. The models come in all sizes and shades, and many don't fit the mainstream idea of what a model looks like.
"This book represents the cousin down the street. We have pretty models, crazy-looking models. There is no air-brushing. Again, it is really about the hair," Humphries stresses.
You can reach Ursula Walker at uwalker@detnews .com.

The Detroit News
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Go play!
Ursula Watson / The Detroit News
Hairstylists from Detroit and around the country unleash their imaginations on the heads of models, who balance wild creations, at Hair Wars Sunday. Everything from luxury cars, motorcycles, birds, flowers and more are crafted from human and synthetic hair. Hair Wars began in the mid-1980s in Detroit. Stylists showed off their outlandish hair designs in Detroit nightclubs.
What: "Hair Wars"
When: 6:05 p.m. Sunday
Where: Northfield Hilton, 5500 Crooks Road, Troy
Cost: $20 in advance; $25 at the door.
Call: (313) 534-8318 or visit www.hairwarsustour.com.
By Ursula Watson
The Detroit News







                                   
Better Living Through Design (BLTD.)
Hair Wars






















Purchase information: $39.95
Holy. I want this book.

'“Hair Wars is a different idea of fashion and glamour than what is shown in the world of runway shows and magazines. That world ends up looking bland and anemic in comparison. The Fantasy Hairstyles in this book are proudly loud and outrageous. They express a desire to surpass the ordinary, to make something better, bigger, more extreme and more shockingly different than everybody else. To me, it’s just as serious and creative as, for example, an Haute Couture show by John Galliano, with the exception that these designers constructed their creations in their kitchens, on shoestring budgets.”'— Johanna Lenander

[posted by katie]
--Posted January 17, 2008






Win tickets to Hair Wars Jan. 20

Into hair? Better yet, into Hair Wars?

The singular battle of the stylists takes place Jan. 20 at the Hilton Hotel in Troy.

David Humphries, Hair Wars king, is offering to the Names & Faces faithful 25 pairs of tickets to the show -- plus a grand prize that includes tickets, a couple of drinks and food at the show, a hotel room at the Hilton for the night of the show, a DVD set from the event and a copy of the "Hair Wars" book.

Wowsers!

To enter to win one of the prizes, e-mail your name, postal address and daytime phone to contests@freepress.com. You must type "Hair Wars" in the subject line. We'll select the winners at random from all entries received by noon Wednesday and notify them promptly.




(Click the npr logo to hear this story)

Arts & Culture
Hair Wars: Redefining the Updo
by Celeste Headlee


February 20, 2008 ·  A bowl of fighting fish can look quite elegant entangled in a head of hair, and a python can give an updo a certain edginess.

These are not fashion lessons to be learned off the pages of Vogue, but Hair Wars is not a typical fashion venue. At the circus-like style extravaganza, nothing is off-limits.

David Humphries created Hair Wars about 20 years ago in Detroit. Over the decades, it has turned into a national touring show.

In a world where most people stick to the same trendy cuts and fades, he said the stylists love the chance to break away.

"They use Hair Wars as a forum to really go crazy, and Hair Wars is a place for them to showcase it. That's the platform that we have for them to be the artists that they are," he said.

At a recent show, at least 2,000 people packed into a hotel ballroom. In the center, models of many ages and sizes strutted down a catwalk to the pounding thump of hip hop. Although they were dressed elaborately — some in shiny crop-tops, others in glamorous gowns — no one was really looking at what they were wearing. This was all about the hair.

During the four hours, about 250 models crossed the runway. There were women with helicopters on their heads, propellers spinning. Another woman balanced a barbecue grill complete with spatulas and tongs in her long locks. Just when it seemed a creation was impossible to top, a lady sauntered down with a four-foot python in her do.

Backstage stylist Rafael arrived with his models — the picture of elegance, with black and white gowns and fantastically elaborate updos. One looked like a sparkling chandelier, another like a cascading fountain.

"I've always been into fantasy hairdos," he says. "It's my dream. It's inside me."

Near Rafael, another stylist worked feverishly, attaching sculpted pieces to a girl's head. The stylist, Dangtoy Lewis, said just one of these coiffures can take weeks to create and can cost a considerable amount of money.

"You get four minutes on stage, but you know what? Just that five minutes' fame is worth it to me," Lewis said.

Back out in the ballroom, the audience applauded for a rainbow afro that was at least 4 feet wide. Artist Tyree Guyton watched in amazement.

"This has taken me to another level of what it can be," he said. "Taking hair beyond what we think it should be."
  

HAIR WARS reaching Millions who spend Billions






December 20, 2007
Hair There and Everywhere

                       


                                                 



If there was ever any doubt that big hair is alive and well, it will be dispelled by a new photo book and accompanying runway show. Just in time for the holidays, a consciousness-raising volume called Hair Wars has been released by powerHouse Books  (which can always be counted on for idiosyncratic photo collections). The book features such wild creations as this little do at left. For those who want to see this stuff in the flesh, a grand celebration is planned for January 20, 2008, at the Northfield Hilton in Troy , Michigan , outside Detroit — touted as the "Hair Capital of the World."















The Hair Wars show — actually a revival of a a national touring show dedicated to "Fantasy Hair" styling from the 1980s and '90s — features more than 200 creations by hairstylists who try to outdo each other in defying gravity and incorporating cultural references (such as the Olympic logo, right; for show information call Hair Wars at 313-534-8318).

Meanwhile the new book, compiled by David Yellen and Johanna Lenander, collects photos of many but not all of these masterpieces; judging from the pdf that we saw, it's a highly amusing page-turner. "Remote controlled Hairy-copter, spinning ponytail, hairdos that include a gigantic bowl with live Japanese fighting fish or built-in device that blows soap bubbles…all those short-lived and fragile Fantasy Hair pieces, entirely made of human hair and completed by make up and custom-made outfits, give birth to creatures that evoke either fairytales or the real-life events they were inspired by," reads the promo copy, itself an outlandish creation. But rest assured: "The humour at play never overwhelms the intent to make the models (most are stylists’ friends and family members) look sexy and beautiful."

Of all these creations, though, we think the one below takes the cake. — Jack Crager
Stylist Little Willie created this 'do.
(David Yellen / Hair Wars)

"HAIR WARS  ...givin' it to you the way you want it!"
The Global Africa Project
November 17, 2010 - May 15, 2011
An unprecedented exhibition exploring the broad spectrum of contemporary African art, design, and craft worldwide, The Global Africa Project premieres at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) this November. Featuring the work over 100 artists working in Africa, Europe, Asia, the United States, and the Caribbean, The Global Africa Project surveys the rich pool of new talent emerging from the African continent and its influence on artists around the world. Through ceramics, basketry, textiles, jewelry, furniture, and fashion, as well as selective examples of architecture, photography, painting, and sculpture, the exhibition actively challenges conventional notions of a singular African aesthetic or identity, and reflects the integration of African art and design without making the usual distinctions between “professional” and “artisan.”
Hair Wars is included in this exhibition
Page 3