It Was a Black Creative Family Reunion at Echelon Noir’s Black Hair Reimagined Hair Show

Carol’s Daughter founder and hair care pioneer Lisa Price was excited to see the presentations ahead of the show. “This is us: this is our kind of celebration,” she says. Her now 18-year-old daughter, she says, can experience a hair versatility that wasn’t possible for Price herself growing up. “She wanted her hair to be like mommy’s, but she didn’t have curly hair, so I put micro locs in her hair so she could do the ponytails and other styles,” she says, thinking back. “As she got older, she wanted more freedom and expressions, so now my daughter wears braids, wigs, and weaves, she colors it, and cuts it all off sometimes. And there’s no stress: just style and how she feels. When I grew up, it wasn’t like that. You stuck to what everybody else was doing because it was risky. Now, it’s all good.”

The runway show was set in front of a gleaming mirror that cleverly bounced the audience’s reflections back to them by set designer Fai Khadra—remember what Price said: ‘this is us’—the runway show was equal parts camp, true hair artistry, and stylistic performance, with an energetic, emotional soundtrack created in collaboration with musical director Tamika Haywood.

First up on the bill was Yusef Williams, with his ‘Nostalgic Heat’ presentation with icon status stylist Patti Wilson. “I was inspired by my mother and every bad bitch I know from the South to the East Coast,” Williams, a favorite of Rihanna and Tyla, said of his presentation’s muses. “I’m a boy born and raised in Miami, so my culture is heavily Southern, Caribbean, and Latine. There are also the drug dealer girlfriends and that sense of danger. All of my girls had to be strong, powerful, and ready for whatever. That’s just who I am as a stylist.” That energy was undeniable: his hair sculptures felt like they could graze the ceiling, and there was lots of skin and glittering gold, with Palmer-esque, LBD-clad dancers keeping spirits high.

Next was Vernon François—who has created resplendent braids, twists, and curly masterpieces for Lupita Nyong’o and Solange—with his ethereal “Freedom Is Priceless” display, styled by Jan Michael Quammie. Alton Mason emerged in an expertly-colored gray wig that made him larger than life in sky-high platform boots, while Sabina Karlsson’s gorgeous red curls were coiffed into a sky-high textured afro, dressed in a fringed gown.

Photographed by Acielle/Style Du Monde

“Flowers Only Bloom At Night” was the pièce de résistance for Doechii’s go-to Malcolm Marquez, who crafted showstopping hair with styling by Jessica Willis. From rockstar spikes that felt both punk and an homage to the traditional hairstyles of the Mrua tribe, to floor-grazing twists and box braids on models like Julez J Smith, Marquez reflected the conceptual spirit he’s been exhibiting with Doechii—proving that hair can be the fabulous ’fit focal point.

Jamaica-born, London-based hairstylist and runway hair favorite Cyndia Harvey and stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson then presented “Neptune Noir,” where the hair slithered and moved with the powerful, rhythmic movements of the models. Hair coiled around the body from head-to-toe, acting as diaphanous, woven capes of interlocking braids. Hair shook with ferocity in what could only be described as Afro Futurism meets Cousin It.

The show arced with “Nocturnal Opulence,” from Echelon Noir co-founder Jawara Wauchope and the sartorial vision of Carlos Nazario. Brooklyn-born, Jamaica-raised hairstylist Wauchope stepped up to present serious hair couture, drawing from the ostentatious styles he saw in salons growing up. “I saw so many hairstyles that I felt were so sophisticated and beautiful, but that the world deemed ghetto and not refined,” Wauchope tells Vogue, thinking back to his adolescence in Black hair havens. “My presentation aimed to take that idea and put it on its head to create this world of couture hair, worn by sophisticated women that live a certain lifestyle. I wanted to elevate that hair and give a middle finger to the idea that it isn’t chic.”

Black Hair Reimagined is an extravaganza that meets the current moment—when DEI initiatives are being stripped and rolled back mere years after being widely implemented. Wauchope was hearing from his fellow creatives that they wanted a space where they could celebrate their peers and their community. “Personally, I’ve seen a decline in the celebration of Black artistry,” he says frankly. “We’ve been feeling a certain way because this isn’t something we get to see often in the projects we work on. When I mentioned this to everyone, they were so excited. These stylists and beauty artists understand the nuance of how Black stories work together.”

This is a total labor of love for Lacks, who recently quit his corporate job and went full throttle to bring the show together in a few short months. “I texted Jawara and told him you should do a Black hair show because you are at that level now where you can put on a production like this and people will come because of who you are,” he says. “He was thinking of the exact same thing and had wanted to do this for so long, so he proposed we do it together. That was the catalyst. We thought that, if we could pull this off for the Met Gala weekend—given this year’s theme—it would be incredible. I’m so grateful for our partners who believed in us, and our friends in the industry who support us coming tonight, because it was executed exactly the way we wanted it to be.”

Wauchope and Lacks have big plans for the Echelon Noir production company, including a Black hair book, film opportunities, museum partnerships, and community events. “Growing up, we were always taught that being a doctor, teacher, or lawyer were the only paths available to us,” says Lacks. “Thank God I had two amazing parents that believed in me when I said I wanted to go to art school and work at a magazine. Right out of college, I got my first job at Condé Nast at Allure—starting in beauty led me to this moment.”

Ultimately, Black Hair Reimagined and Echelon Noir are building and giving life to a legacy where Black safe spaces for creativity are uplifted. “We are cementing this as a legacy project that was created for us and by us, where we dipped into the culture and exposed the world to what we know as a hair show, by elevating it and modernizing it,” says Lacks. “We don’t need to be removed from spaces because we can create spaces and create them for everyone.”