HAIR IS A NATURAL HEADDRESS
2019
Brass and silk
TOP KNOT
Hair is a Natural Headdress explores the idea of hairstyle as a form of adornment in itself.
The collection recreates familiar ways of arranging hair — including ponytails, braids and traditional Japanese forms — using silk rather than human hair.
By separating these forms from the wearer’s own hair and turning them into objects that can be attached to the head, the collection shifts the way we look at something deeply familiar. A hairstyle becomes an accessory; hair becomes material; and the act of styling becomes a form of wearing.
Hair is a Natural Headdress proposes that before adding any ornament to the head, we may already be wearing one of our own.
BRAID BUNCHES
PONYTAIL
Hair is a Natural Headdress was created in Okinawa in response to an invitation to make jewellery using silk thread produced by textile artist Michiko Uehara.
When Shinzato first encountered the bundles of silk, their texture and movement immediately reminded her of human hair. She began experimenting with the material by recreating different hairstyles, including ponytails, braids and traditional Japanese forms.
Through this process, she began to see hairstyle itself as a form of decoration — a natural headdress created simply by arranging the hair we already have.