Earlier today, I watched the Louis Vuitton Men’s Fall/Winter 2021 fashion show for Virgil Abloh’s collection “E B O N I C S”. Featuring a beautiful array of black artistry in music, poetry and dance, the video had me floored.
It opens with Saul Williams reciting a poem:
The construct of purity is sullied with every step.
The evidence I carry
The hidden sun in every breath.
My blackest self whose whitest death
Is luxury.
I am no stranger anymore.
The world is love to me.
The snow will melt.
The ice will flaw
And make it up to me.
Then, there’s jazz, there’s modern dance, there’s incredible fashion, there’s Mos Def performing original songs. It’s a lot, and it’s amazing. You really just have to see it for yourself:
Watching this stunning display of black culture left me speechless. It also made me curious, wondering if there are any other maintstream, high fashion brands out there that aim to celebrate black beauty in the same way.
Since this is Black Hair Magic, I was more focused on brands that showcase a variety of black hairstyles. While we are seeing more black models on the runway, what about natural hair? Sure, we see lots of models with shaved hair and flat ironed styles – but, how many brands highlight natural styles like twists, braids and locs?
The answer is – not many. However, the ones that do have quite an impressive array.
Fashion Brands With Great Black Hair Representation
Basically, I scrolled through the Instagram feeds of all of the high fashion houses could think of. The brands that required me to scroll for a while before coming to at least three diverse black hair looks didn’t make the list.
So, that’s not to say that any brands that didn’t make the cut don’t feature black models or models with natural hair. There are plenty that do. This list is simply highlighting the fashion houses that make the effort to include models with a wide range of natural hairstyles.
Versace
Balmain
Dior
Alexander McQueen
Marc Jacobs
Why Is It Important?
Of course, there are plenty of black-owned fashion brands out there that you can support. However, it’s important to see diverse representation of black hair in the more mainstream brands who have the furthest reach in the media.
In the high fashion world, showcasing models who wear their naturally or in protective styles shows that black hair can be luxe. It is a symbol of acknowlegement – that you can have locs or cornrows or twists and wear haute couture and look like you belong in it.
There really is still a long way to go in the world of fashion, but this is a good start. Black hair is beautiful, a gorgeous accompaniment to any type of clothing, and we’d love to see more brands sending this message in the future.
Black Hair Magic 