Modelling sustainable fashion futures on Hair and Hairdressing Salons

This project explores the culture of hair and hairdressing through ethnographic observation of clients and
stylists in specific salons. A fashionable haircut is achieved via one-to-one negotiated experiences of
identity construction within the community of the salon. Such client-craftsperson relationships, while
present in pre-industrial culture and high-end tailoring, are largely absent from clothing since the
'democratisation' of fashion. Instead, 'fast-fashion' brands offer consumers abundant, cheap, low-quality
clothing, manufactured in distant countries, that reacts to ever-faster fashion trends (Zamani, Standin &
Peters 2017). The widespread negative social and environmental impacts of this sector are well
documented (Fletcher 2014).

Scholars of fashion and sustainability are rethinking the field, challenging the dominance of current
industry models while acknowledging the significance of fashion to identity construction and social life
(Von Busch 2018, Payne 2019). My study benefits this wider endeavour by increasing understanding of
how fashionable identities are managed, and investigating the potential for forms of sociality in salons to
become catalysts for sustainable clothing behaviours.

This study uses Spradley's (1980) 'descriptive observation' to record the salon environment while paying
specific attention to social interactions, followed by semi-structured interviews with hairdressers and
clients. Initial pilot studies will comprise one working week in three Nottingham salons. I will select the
salon with the richest culture for a longitudinal study over the course of a year, with extended visits
coinciding with the 6-8-week timescale between haircuts.

Four years of designing for a high street fashion supplier provided first-hand knowledge of the workings
of the fashion industry. I left to pursue an academic career, achieving a high distinction in my MA
(supported by an NTU competitive scholarship), and presenting at 'Culture, Costume and Dress' 2019
(Birmingham) and 'Fashion, Costume and Visual Culture' 2019 (Roubaix - with NTU Global Travel Fund
Bursary). This proposal builds upon my master's research on the importance of style and surface to
identity, with specific focus on the visual and material properties of hair.

Since the MA, I have gained a wealth of academic experience: hourly-paid lecturing at NTU, guiding
fashion and textile students towards industry change; working as a Research Assistant for Raw Print's
Zine Therapy project at NTU, providing literature reviews to underpin funding proposals; and volunteering
on NTU's Textile Tales project (funded by Heritage Lottery Fund), including training from the University of
Leicester's East Midlands Oral History Archive and experience in interviewing.