Everybody likes human hair as long as it is on their own heads, but when it becomes separated from the body it becomes repulsive. However, it is a great material and carries a huge potential to be applied as a material. 

As my objective, I want to give a new meaning to human hair and emphasize its quality as material. Most of the time hair is just part of fashion or subculture and connected to identities. A whole head of hair could support up to 2 tons. Healthy hair, when wet, can stretch to 30% its original length. Hair is stronger than a copper wire of the same diameter. Hair has been used to clean oil spills from the ocean, insulate submarines during World War 2, stuff chairs for better comfort, and even can upgrade the fertility of the soil. Why are you wasting yourself, when we can become materials for several industries?

How long we humans live on this planet, taking its natural resources, and what are we willing to give back? In my opinion, it is time that we humans become materials for a sustainable future. My research into human hair started a few years ago. After researching human hair as a material, finding out its qualities and capabilities as a possible material I found out by implementing human hair into the textile industry can make a change and reduce the harmful production of cotton, wool, or hemp industry. What if in the future there are not only plastic, paper, glass containers placed on the street, but there is a container for hair as well? What if our beauty obsession can be turned into a sustainable textile application? There are more than 250 hairdresser salons registered on Google Maps in Amsterdam. I visited a few to talk about their hair waste. On average they produce at least 10 large bags of hair as a waste every week. My goal is to turn their waste into tapestry pieces, woven stories of what we humans contribute to our planet, show the strength of our diversity, and use human hair as a material where everybody is equal.

Are you ready

to become

material

for a better

future?