Q & A
THE ART OF BRAIDING
For Angela Plummer , hair is not just hair . It is the raw material for creative expression . Sleuth ’ s Diana Paiva hears from the award-winning stylist about braiding afro hair as a form of art .
First , do you consider yourself a stylist or an artist ?
I am a creative hair artist . I don ’ t really consider myself a hairstylist because I feel that my work is more on the art side . I started to take care of my hair at a young age , when I was 10 , and then made it a career until I was around 31 years old .
The reason why I started doing hair so young was because my mum became ill . So , I thought it was my duty to become a hairdresser and take care of the hair duties at home . But at the time , I didn ’ t want to do hair : I wanted to be a fashion designer . When I became a hairdresser , I had to find a way to merge hair and fashion . Once I became an accomplished hair artist , I started to think : why I don ’ t start a fashion line ? But I didn ’ t want to start a fashion line using fabric , I wanted to use braided hair extensions to do my clothes . And that ’ s how it all started . I used to have a hair salon , but I was never there , as I worked more as a freelance . Most of my work now is for clients for private parties , fashion shows , events and videos .
How did you learn to do braids ?
I didn ’ t learn , it was a gift . I had blessed hands . I didn ’ t know I could do hair until my mum became ill , and that ’ s when I realised that she became ill for me so I could discover my true power , which was to do hair . I had to find a way to express myself through hair and develop my signature style . I am still learning – nothing is perfect and I am still perfecting my craft .
What do braids and afro hair mean to you ?
It means everything to me ; I just love creating the braids and feeling the afro hair ’ s texture . I feel I can create anything with braids . When they say that braids and afro hair are only for the head , I personally think it looks nicer to wear them on your body . If you do it in a creative way , people won ’ t even notice that it is made from hair . When I tell people that I make clothes with hair , they are surprised because they think it is made from wool .
It is a craft that I ’ ve been doing for 25 years , and I absolutely love it . With my job , I get the chance to meet so many different people and with every job I have , I can meet a different audience because there ’ s always going to be something different for people to see .
When did you decide to follow your dream as a hair artist ?
I went through a lot of jobs . I was a former employee for a company in London , and I worked there for seven years . But there came a point where that I didn ’ t want to be there . I had to find a way to get out of there and focus on doing what I love , which is hair .
One day , I was at work , and I heard a song . The lyrics were both positive and negative , but the lines that I heard were : “ Get up , get up and do something . Don ’ t let the days of your life just pass you by ‘ cause you never really know till you try .” At that point , I decided to hand in my resignation , and I left work two weeks later not knowing where to start in the industry .
For me , the industry was already saturated , and I was 31 at the time , so I had to find a way to break into it . I started by doing only men ’ s hairstyles and then later women ’ s hairstyles .
When did you decide to become more creative with your hairstyles ?
When I started doing men ’ s hair , I began to see that Snoop Dogg and other celebrities had a lot of different styles on their hair – back then braiding your hair was extremely popular . Most of the hairstyles were more creative and that ’ s how it really started . And later , I had my first magazine publication : I think it was in 2001 , and the spread was only men .
Image : Angela Plummer ; Photographer - James Bell ; Make-up Artist - Bev K Makeup
10 SLEUTH ISSUE 5