HEAD TURNING

The hair on your head is interlaced with your sense of self, and as three women will attest, a radical change can be completely liberating.

The hair on your head is interlaced with your sense of self, and as these three women will attest, a radical change can be completely liberating. Interviews by Remy Rippon.

EMMA BOYD, MODEL

I’ve always been naturally blonde, but I had been bleaching my hair for a couple of years to a point where it was platinum. It took a huge toll on my hair – it just didn’t feel healthy anymore.

I had been thinking about a huge hair change. I didn’t feel like blonde hair resonated with me anymore, and when I brought up cutting my hair short to my modelling agency, Elite, they suggested going brunette, too.

I first cut my hair in early September last year – a short, French-style bob with a fringe. I hadn’t been brunette before, but it just felt like me; it felt right. Work-wise, everything changed, which I didn’t expect. Everyone seemed to recognise it and I think that’s how I was booked on an exclusive for the Prada show that season, which for a model is a huge coup.

I also felt a lot more confident after I chopped it. I think that showed through my work and the energy I would bring to shoots. It can change a lot of things, your hair. I probably didn’t realise at the time, but hair is like a safety blanket. When I first went short I felt like it had been taken away because, although we may not know it, we do tend to hide behind our hair a lot.

I showed up in Milan for fashion week last year and I was there three days before the Prada show for fittings and there were whispers of a big hair change – some of the girls getting their hair cut for the show. They ended up picking four out of 40 models to have their hair lopped into pixie cuts and I was one of them. I found out the night before the show, and after it was cut I loved it!

Once I had the cropped cut my style changed too, and, admittedly, I had a bit of a wardrobe crisis. Now I tend to dress a little bit more boyish and maybe a bit more Parisian – I wear more statement pieces. I bought a lot more jewellery and I wear earrings a lot more now … and hats too, like berets and little bucket hats.

I never really imagined I would have a pixie cut. As a model, your hair is part of your identity and while a lot of models have quite similar hair – generally long – changing your hair can set you apart. It completely changes the type of work you get. Now I tend to get more editorial and androgynous shoots. It certainly marked a pivotal point in my career.