I wanted to show how African American culture can be represented and embraced in the practice of hair. My work is inspired by my personal experience with African American hair culture. I drew ideas from what I’ve done to my own hair, what I’ve seen and practiced growing up, and society’s influence on the practice. 
I began my investigation by focusing on how African American hair is represented and evolving in the fashion industry. I soon realized I couldn’t represent that without addressing how the styles that are being celebrated in fashion are also being challenged in society. Through my research I found that the fashion world is adopting African American hairstyles that were, and often still are, stigmatized in the world beyond the industry. For instance, non-African American models sporting durags can be seen on the runways of New York Fashion Week, but when a black man wears one on the streets, or in school, he is judged as “ghetto” or dangerous. My work aims to address this duality as well as celebrate the roots of black hair culture by highlighting the process and challenging our standards of beauty.