Afro Hair Awards throws spotlight on Kenya's hair industry

It is the season for events and like many of them, The Afro Hair Awards 2017 was bumped off to later in the year.

And I tell you this: it was colourful and vibrant. At least the hair was. Founded by visionary trichologist and hair entrepreneur Muli Musyoka, it was the third of its kind.

The hair industry in Kenya has its own set of distinct challenges which interestingly are almost mirror images of the fashion industry’s from embracing technology, education, staying relevant, training, access to opportunities right up to marketing and branding to a never-ending need for originality and creativity.

IMPERIOUS MOTHER

Celebrity judge Shazz Browne, stylist to the stars, founder of 12 salons, inventor of the legendary straw set (1977) and reattaching faux locs (see Bad Boys 2) finally made it after a passport snafu in 2016. Google the list of beautiful Black Hollywood hair she has blessed in a career spanning 44 years.

TAHA nominees send in images of their handiwork which are then decided by a pool of independent judges. We also vet nominated schools, brands and salons. This year, salons stood out for me. Maybe it finally hit me how many hours of my life I spend in them.

I grew up with a rather imperious mother who did mine and my sister’s hair. Before naturalistas knew jojoba she was combing it through our hair. She bought blowdryers over the years, personally handling our hairs until she dropped us on very specific salon doorsteps; my sister with Min Jane, me with Mama Joe.

Back then it was called saloon, husks with foldable wooden chairs, wooden combs and contorted spines (ours) on strained necks. Salons as we know them now are woven into African blood with hairdos that qualify for the Avant Garde Stylist of the Year category. Women gathered round designated cocoons for an afternoon and groomed each other.

Aunts, sisters, mothers and daughters used this time to touch base. And yes, gossip. Hair was as robust as the health of the women who prepared them; thick, dark, bouncy, luscious. Men knew better than impose themselves on this sacred practice. Time travelling to 2017, Shazz, she of the spunky hair points out the clear.

'KENYANS ARE TIMID'

Kenya is so far behind. There’s good news. Playing catch up will be an excellent learning curve. Salons vetted this year were stunning. Range Rovers and Bentleys. Decor, layout and design in these spaces is unchallengeable. Shazz says US salons are not nearly this glamorous. It’s more about function. And, she adds, our salons could really do with proper ventilation.

“I don’t know what that smell is. All I know is it’s killing stylists. If not now, later. But someone’s dying. I had to eat a cookie to get the taste off my mouth.” She, like locals, noticed a solid male presence. “In Kenya there are more men doing hair than in the States. I would probably say more straight men. In the States most hairstylists are gay.”

One thing bothered her most, absence of consultation. Especially for a first time client. Her own consultations can border on the invasive so she warns clients “I am not asking for your social security, credit card or bank account numbers. I just want to get to know you.”

Details on a client’s life are things quite likely going to affect their hair, and is the first step in developing a relationship with said client. The kind of investment in time, effort and care that existed in salons before they were salons. Before daughters of commanding mothers became imperious women.

“Kenyans are very timid. They come sit in the chair and whisper things and the hairstylist gets to work. Don’t work on a client’s hair before you know her hair history; is she on medication, is she pregnant, has she lost her job, did someone die; all these things affect her hair.” Aside from that it’s simply good business. What affects her hair from one day to the next affects her ability to stay on as your client.

“Hairstylists have to see themselves as hair care givers. People say the customer is always right. I say until they are wrong. I am not going to use that to compromise or fracture my reputation because that is what the client asked for. You don’t go to a doctor’s office and he tells you you have a two cavities and you say, ‘no, just fill the one.’ At the end of the day the stylist is the professional. The weight of blame will always stop with you.”