Hair by Sam McKnight

As I walked into Somerset House from the increasingly bitter streets surrounding the Strand, I was greeted by the world of fashion, along with a flock of fashion students. I was at the brand new exhibition, Hair by Sam McKnight, designed to mimic both the feel of a catwalk and an editorial photoshoot. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a collection solely centred on hair – after all, it only takes up a small part of our bodies, how influential could it be? Well, if you want to find out just how much hair shaped the world, then this is the exhibition for you.

Sam McKnight is one of the most famous hair stylists of this generation, having styled the glossy locks of Kate Moss, Princess Diana, Tilda Swinton, and Lady Gaga – to name but a few. Having helped style the iconic looks behind Vivienne Westwood’s eclectic collections, as well as keeping things classy for Chanel, McKnight has been in the forefront of the fashion scene since the 1970s, and continues to reign supreme. The exhibition celebrates “40 years of fashion’s most iconic hairstyles”, and it was only from seeing this that I realised how versatile our keratin strands really are: McKnight sees hair as a material that can be harnessed, regrown, shaped, or coloured into almost anything imaginable. He’s famous for the ‘pouf’ and the ‘done-undone’ looks, and he coined a technique that can turn any hair type into an afro (I’ll be trying it later). His career speaks for itself, with the walls of the exhibit lined with Vogue covers and editorial shoots he styled for, as well as personal polaroids of him with notoriously famous fashion faces.

McKnight sees hair as a material that can be harnessed, regrown, shaped, or coloured into almost anything imaginable

The exhibit itself has ups and downs, but overall does a great job of showcasing the work and life behind McKnight himself. A highlight for me was a room filled with larger than life editorial pieces of models with completely different looks, all of which were stunningly unique and beautiful. Smaller rooms focused on certain designers or iconic people, most notably Princess Diana, who allowed McKnight to radically cut her hair, giving her the image she is remembered by today. Some parts of the exhibition fell a bit flat, with random wigs and pieces of multi-coloured hair giving little added meaning to what was going on, and some rooms weren’t very captivating – but I suppose it depends on your relative interest in fashion. I did wish there was a bit more on the actual process of hair styling, as well as documenting McKnight’s life in more detail; a little bit of history regarding certain hairstyles wouldn’t have gone amiss! But then again, it’s not the V&A, and Somerset House is known for keeping things contemporary and fresh.

Overall I think this exhibit is worth seeing, not only from a fashion perspective, but also for the photography aspect. Going through the exhibition, I learned that I can afford to make far bolder choices when it comes to hairstyling. I think I’ll leave the buzzcut for now though...