3 min read

Untold Hair Stories

FACE X Horniman

IMAGES: Illustrations by Davina Hawthorne - created during the workshop

Davina Hawthorne

Senior Lecturer | Programme Lead - MA fashion and textiles

| De Montfort University

The drawing workshop was co-created by Davina Hawthorne and Jane Thomson for the MA Fashion and Textile programme at De Montfort University. We started the session with a lecture on the FACE X Horniman Hair Stories online exhibition.

Using this as a starting point, examples were shown of different hair drawings of Black, Brown and Asian hairstyles. The students were then set a task to illustrate Black, Brown and Asian hair using different methods and mediums.

We had a discussion to share our findings. Here are snippets from our conversation.....

Davina: Jane did the workshop make you think differently about drawing hair / templates?

Jane: It was interesting for me to co -create this workshop – researching and planning for a workshop is time consuming but for this specific session, it was more in-depth than usual. Because of the subject of the Horniman project I found that my research had to be much deeper and focused. When typing in key word searches, I found that the majority of images initially available seemed to be 90% white faces / hair styles. I wanted to find illustrators that illustrate Afro hair, multi-cultural hairstyles for my presentation. It was disappointing. When I did eventually find illustrations showcasing Black, Brown and Asian hair, the results were stunning - Innovative, creative, colourful and experimental.

Davina: It was nice to see so many Afro hair drawings in one place. I have never seen this before......

Jane: When researching for an illustration workshop, I am always mindful of collecting a variety of different faces, hair textures etc. As mentioned earlier, due to the nature of the brief, I needed to be more specific with regards to my research. Having to add in key words to find fashion illustrations of Black, Brown and Asian figures was disappointing and surprising to me. 80% of the results showcased white stereotypical models.

IMAGE: Davina Hawthorne and designers - DMU Fashion and Textile design studio (during workshop activities)

IMAGES: Illustrations by Jane Thomson

Jane Thomson

Visiting Lecturer | ILLUSTRATOR |

De Montfort University

Davina: It was funny how I found it difficult to draw straight hair and you found it difficult to draw curly hair..

Jane: To be honest it's easy to draw a straight line.... and when I do quick demonstrations which include hair, this has historically been my go-to. The workshop has been inspiring in many ways. Even after teaching for 15 years, there is always something new to learn and with this case, my own illustration style and approach to diversity within fashion illustration has changed drastically for the better.

Davina: I do think learning to draw different hair textures is for everyone, not just for Black Brown and Asian people. How can we get students to draw a wider variety of diverse models? Do we need to look at how students are being taught earlier in their fashion education?

Jane: The workshop was successful in many ways. It has been great to really push the students to draw various patterns, hair textures and styles from a Black, Brown and Asian perspective.

Davina: It is good to keep checking your teaching approaches otherwise, you end up delivering the same old same old.

Jane: Race in the educational space is not spoken about enough. This workshop has been a great teaching tool to encourage change and a more inclusive approach to the subject of illustration, inspiring students to think about a broader range of diverse fashion templates.