Freedom: A hair collection

Among the myriad joys of hairdressing, you gift your clients their individuality by creating a bespoke look for them which expresses their identity. And equally, in conceiving and creating collections of photography you can find expression for yourself, too. We love this latest collection entitled Freedom from Vanessa Koeb and Oliver Blackaby at the Hair Salon in Hove, Sussex. It is, they tell us, deeply personal. They discovered a shared experience of living outside traditional expectations. They sought to show how they can reflect the world as they know it. 

Photographer: Orsolya Luca @lucaorsi • Make-up: Annelie Bystom @annelie_bystrom

We find it joyful and invited Vanessa and Oliver to share how it came about: 

Working side by side at the Hair Salon, a collective space, Oliver and Vanessa say: “This collection was born from a conversation, a moment shared between two creatives reflecting on the world around them. In a time where identity is still questioned, challenged, and politicised, Freedom emerged as an instinctive response…Not just a visual project, but a statement, a call for inclusivity, for authenticity, for space.”

In a conscious rejection of industry norms, the collection features individuals from what Vanessa and Oliver call “our own community” rather than professional models. These are real people, carrying their own stories, identities, and lived experiences. And there is the freedom to express what the pair want to share taken authentically throughout the process of creating the collection. 

Hair as a message

The visual language of the collection draws on British subcultures, powerful movements often born from working class communities and marginalised voices. The looks reflect influence from Punk, New Romantics, skinheads, Afro identity, and more. But it’s not only the styles which are perceptible in the imagery, but the mood and emotion of survival, identity and resistance. 

The hair is deliberately diverse in shape and texture, future forward mullets, raw and undone bobs, short graphic fringes, rat tails, and strong afro silhouettes. The ideas are reshaped and reimagined across reimagined across different genders, backgrounds, and hair types. The message is that no hair style belongs to to one person, one culture, or one definition of beauty.

 

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