Texture On Set is The Hair Show Building Community

Reported by Vogue.

For most of fashion's history, textured hair on set has been treated as an inconvenience — something to work around rather than work with. Award-winning hairstylist Naeemah LaFond watched that dynamic play out repeatedly: models dreading whether anyone on crew could actually handle their curls, clients of color sitting in salon chairs not knowing what they'd walk out with. "I was consistently hearing and seeing from models about their bad experiences on set," LaFond says. "Having worked in the industry for so long, I knew it wasn't equitable." So she built something.

Now in its third year, Texture On Set — LaFond's one-day industry event — drew more than 300 attendees from editorial, celebrity, and industry leadership, according to Vogue. Presenting partner Olaplex was joined by Oribe, Pattern Beauty, Dyson, Sharkbeauty, SalonCentric, and The Deoux. But the sponsorship list isn't the point. The point is what happened in the room: a cross-generational, cross-specialty community of professionals who showed up to actually fix something broken.

History, Technique, and Why Both Matter

The programming went deep. Olaplex Global Ambassador and curl specialist Christin Brown led a tutorial that recentered the humanity of the model — not just the hair — in editorial work. Oribe Global Ambassador Stacey Ciceron demonstrated how to execute the same sleek ponytail on textured hair in two completely different states: blown-out versus wet curl. The lesson being that a skilled stylist adapts; they don't just default. Makeup artist and historian Michela Wariebi gave a presentation spanning Black hair innovations from the 16th century to the present, framing what's at stake with precision: "It's been a methodology for subjugation. It's been a way for revolution and resistance." Cultural competence, she argued, requires knowing that history — not just mastering a technique. Hair legend Chuck Amos closed with a masterclass, his résumé including Beyoncé's Dangerously in Love album cover, a look still referenced by artists today.

The event ended with the Texture On Set Awards, honoring the people who built infrastructure before any existed. Stylist Sondrea Demry took the Rising Visionary Award; salon owner and stylist Ursula Stephens received the Industry Icon Award; and creative director Itaysha Jordan was recognized as Living Legend.

LaFond is clear-eyed about the work still ahead. One day doesn't undo decades of negligence, but it can shift who feels responsible for doing better. "It's not about one brand or one person using their voice," she says. "It's about all of us collectively saying, 'This has to change.'" The room — diverse in race, background, and discipline — was the argument made visible.

When the industry finally decides that textured hair deserves real expertise, not just goodwill, events like Texture On Set will be exactly why.

Read the original at Vogue.