Sculpted Black Hair Is the Ultimate Art Form (2025)

To say the Black experience is multifaceted would be an understatement. For nearly 500 years, the global African diaspora has blended West and Central African foods, religions, and practices with influences from Indigenous Americans and Europeans to create unique cultures across the Western Hemisphere and beyond.

And much like there is no one way to be Black, there is certainly no singular way to wear Black hair. “Black hair carries a profound significance that goes beyond appearance. Its texture, diversity, and ability to transform into so many different styles reflect the resilience and creativity of Black culture,” says cosmetologist and beauty educator Stanley Nolan. “Whether through intricate braids, afros, locs, or other styles, Black hair has historically been used as a form of expression and a symbol of identity, social status, and community.”

Many modern Black hairstyles can trace their roots to Africa. “Historically, African cultures have used hair to symbolize identity, beauty, status, spirituality, and cultural pride—each family and tribe with its own distinct styles,” says textured hair specialist Sarah Sango. Over many years and several continents, Black hair has been sculpted to convey messages, serve symbolic purposes, and express the self. Styles such as the Black Panther Party members’ iconic, immaculately shaped afros to Janet Jackson’s waist-grazing box braids in Poetic Justice “create a cultural conversation through hair that embraces individuality while honoring tradition,” says Nolan. “The unique combination of texture, culture, and creativity makes Black hair an enduring source of artistic expression.”

Today, social media has provided Black creators a platform to share their inspired hair creations with the world, while Black celebrities are experimenting with imaginative styles more than ever. With the help of Nolan, Sango, and trichologist Sophia Emmanuel, we’re taking a closer look at four artistic, structural hairstyles that demonstrate the beauty of Black hair and the creativity of Black people.

Hair Threading

Emmanuel and Nolan are both fans of African threading. “This technique involves wrapping thread around sections of hair to create defined, smooth shapes, curls, or intricate designs. It has deep historical significance [and was] used for centuries in African cultures to elongate hair, protect it, and express social status or identity,” Nolan tells us.

As is often the case with styles that originated in Central and West Africa, the technique is the perfect marriage of style and function: “Threading also offers a unique way to highlight the natural texture of the hair while enhancing its structure, making it artistic and functional,” explains Nolan. “The thread acts as a structural element, shaping the hair into intricate, geometric patterns that can resemble architectural forms. This styling method can create sculptural shapes that feel like living, wearable art.”

Influencers and celebrities alike have embraced African threading (Lupita Nyong’o, among the highest-profile adopters, wore a threaded style to the premier of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2022), but arguably the most talked-about threader is Laetitia Ky. The Ivorian artist uses threading—and sometimes wires and glue—to create elaborate pieces as varied as rain clouds and cupcakes to personifications of her own hair. Ky told The Guardian she started experimenting with the style after seeing photos of pre-colonization African women on Facebook. When she began sharing her work on social media, “I started to realize that maybe what I was doing was more powerful than I thought,” Ky told the publication.

Braided Baldie

The braided baldie began trending in 2024, and the maze-like protective style has become a favorite of stylists and social media alike. “This style is a two-for-one. You experience the look and boldness of a shaved head with intricate cornrows braided into different patterns,” says Emmanuel. “What draws me to this style is the shapes that can be created, such as flowers, hearts, zigzag parts, and swirls.” Songo is also a fan: “I’ve also fallen in love with the braided baldie look—there’s something so bold and beautiful about it. The creativity stylists bring with different patterns and colors is truly inspiring.”

Fantasy Styles

If you’re of a certain age (hi, it’s me) and have spent a few hours—or let’s be honest, an entire afternoon—in a Black hair salon, chances are you’ve flipped through a hair book. Nestled within its pages you’d find styles flipped, gelled, swooped, pressed, and dyed into one-of-a-kind pieces—what Emmanuel tells us are referred to, fittingly, as fantasy hairstyles. (If you aren’t familiar, it’s very much worth your time to check them out.)

While tamer versions of fantasy hairstyles were often worn by ’90s hip-hop and R&B icons like Mary J. Blige and Lil’ Kim, perhaps the best cultural document of the look is the 1997 film B.A.P.S. Starring Halle Berry and Natalie Desselle-Reid, the film sees the duo rocking a series of gravity-defying hairstyles that “combined sculptured, extremely high, elaborate curls, waves, crimps, beehives, and more into one hairstyle,” Emmanuel shares. “These styles celebrated the hairstyles from hair competitions and hair extravagances [ed note: hair accessories] that were popular in the 1980s and 1990s,” such as the Bronner Brothers Beauty Show, which has been showcasing the most fantastical hairstyles for more than 70 years.

While fantasy hairstyles haven’t made the same resurgence as, say, box braids, their influence can be seen and felt. Cardi B—no stranger to bright colors and slicked-back, molded updos—and Megan Thee Stallion wore B.A.P.S.-inspired updos in the “WAP” music video. More recently, hairstylist Jawara and designer Raul Lopez drew inspiration from the around-the-way girls for Luar’s Fall/Winter 2025 show, sending select models down the runway with teased, feathery spikes that would look right at home in a hair book.

Afrocentrism

Of course, not all creative styles are protective styles—many work with coils in their most natural state as afros. “Afro molds are at the top of my list as my favorite artistic style,” Emmanuel shares. The look, consisting of “Molding natural hair into various shapes and styles using sculpting hair products like gel, mouse, or spray to help the afro stay in shape,” sees wearers transforming their coils into elaborate shapes. Kwiin Ava, one of the most popular afro sculptors, has created everything from a cactus to a honeycomb, using her hair as raw materials. “I am connected to this style because it showcases the various styles you can wear with textured hair,” says Emmanuel. “An afro is a work of art on its own; being able to mold an afro into other shapes just elevates the afro into wearable art.”

If there’s an ancestor for the afro mold, one could argue that it’s the high-top fades and clean, geometric afros of the 1980s. “The high-top fade is one of my favorite historical and vintage examples of Black hair being transformed into art,” explains Emmanuel, who cites Grace Jones as one of the most influential wearers of the look. Her angular, sharp afros with shaved sides and clean lines “symbolized boldness, strength, and gender fluidity, changing beauty norms.”