Charlotte Mensah’s Four-Decade Case for Black Hair in the Mainstream

Charlotte Mensah: Community Matters, a new exhibition developed with V&A East, charts the Ghana-born hairstylist’s 40-year career and her role in bringing natural Black hair textures into mainstream culture. It follows her journey from childhood in Accra to London, salon ownership and work with clients including Janelle Monáe, Erykah Badu and Zadie Smith.

Mensah moved to Stonebridge, north-west London, at 11 and has spoken about being bullied for wearing a tiny weeny afro at school. After leaving at 16, she began an apprenticeship at Splinters in Mayfair, the UK’s first luxury Black hair salon, before working at other leading London salons.

In 1999, Mensah opened Hair Lounge in Kilburn. The salon later moved to Notting Hill, where she continues to braid, weave, cut, colour and treat hair. She has won Afro Hairdresser of the Year three times and became the first Black woman inducted into the British Hairdressing Awards Hall of Fame in 2018.

The exhibition features editorial images of Nicola Adams, Jourdan Dunn, Celeste and Michaela Coel, reflecting Mensah’s influence on the creative possibilities associated with Black hair. Her eponymous haircare line, a high-end range of oils and finishing mists, has operated for about a decade.

Mensah says access to Afro-textured hair products has improved, with dedicated sections now available at Boots and Superdrug and a growing number of specialist brands sold online. Finding suitably trained stylists, however, remains difficult outside major cities.

She is campaigning for education that covers all hair textures and runs training and mentorship academies in London and Accra. The campaign responds to continuing gaps in professional training: the BBC reported last year that 82 of 259 colleges in England said they taught a curriculum inclusive of Afro hair care.