Since early societies until urban counter-cultures, hair has always been defined as both an armour for protection and a way to express identity. To hide or to reveal, they can help to play a social role, a character of the imagination or just show an inner side of the self.

Tomihiro Kono’s bizarre wig creations encourage transformation, impermanence and a fun approach to self-discovery. Each wig is a unique piece of craftsmanship, made from scratch on the base of an instinct, they cannot be reproduced by machines so in this way they celebrate physicality and presence. Spray-painted in acid or pastel colours pop graphics, they can be long straight extensions, tiny, cute braids, spiky points, soft backcombing or curled structures inspired by nature and animals.

Influenced by a mixture of historical European references - from 18th Century French decadence to the 1980s color palette of New Romantics - Tomihiro’s creations revisit the Japanese heritage of handcraft with lots of punk attitude. Before leaving Japan for London in 2007, he spent ten years training on classical haircutting and color techniques in Tokyo’s hair salons, even learning ancient Geisha hair techniques as Takashimada. After meeting Harajuku’s street culture and falling in love with British youth culture, he embraced a more experimental and creative approach to hair design. In London, he became an artist of head props and hair styling, featured in plenty of fashion editorial for magazines such as Dazed and i-D. One of his first encounter with a fashion designer was the one with Junya Watanabe in 2015, for which he designed head props inspired by structuralism and abstractionism in a long-lasting relationship of nine catwalks.

Now Tomihiro has made a name of himself, realising stunning pieces of craftsmanship as beautiful as meticulously made.

His work has been also exhibited in New York, Tokyo and Paris, and will be featured in a new upcoming exhibition this July at HAIR POWER exhibition @ Wereldmuseum Rotterdam, ND.

He’s also been published on two personal publication: PERSONAS 111 - The Art of Wig Making 2017-2020 and Head Prop - Studies 2013-2016, both by konomad editions (www.konomad.com) - an artist-run platform to support creatives with pop-up events and exhibitions alongside with independent publishing, founded by Tomihiro himself and Sayaka Maruyama.

You were born in Ehime, a Japanese prefecture in the northwest of Shikoku Island. How was growing up there and then moving to Tokyo between the 90s and 00s?

I grew up surrounded by nature. I used to make up games as a child, creating hand-made tools. I loved to watch Hollywood films and imagining myself to be a movie character. Because I was living in such a countryside, I also started to long for the urban life. Back then, Harajuku’s street culture was mainstream. I got so much inspiration from it that my dream became to work in Harajuku one day.

Do you remember a specific moment you fell in love with the world of hair design?

It was very impressive when I experienced a hair salon for the first time, besides the simple hair cut in the barber shop: in hair salons, a real consultation was held before cutting hair, taking into account the quality of the hair and the bone structure of the face. After all I tried many different hairstyles as a teenager. I had them coloured, permed, twisted up.

Your creations blend hairstyling, art and fashion accessories. I read you first started as a hairdresser. What brought you to a more experimental approach?

I started my career as a hairdresser, only after I acquired basic cutting and perming skills, I became interested in the more creative world of photo shoots as a hairstylist. At that time, most of my inspirations came to me through the international fashion magazines. Since then, I moved on to the next stage, making head props, then eventually wigs. I’ve never been satisfied with my creation because there is still so much to learn about new hair techniques. Also the notions of beauty change from time to time, so there are so many ways for creative expressions, which keep pushing me to more and more experimental approaches.

It’s quite evident you englobe Japanese pop heritage (such as the latest anime-inspired wig series: “Kira Kira eyes” and “Love eyes”) and a pinch of historical references twisted up by a punk attitude. What inspires you to create such a layered mixture?

I really enjoy taking inspiration from culture and history, mixing them to create a new vision. There are still many spaces for new expressions which people have never done or seen before. I'd like to continue making new visuals and new beauty.

Natural shapes and animal creatures are also a very personal source of inspiration for you. Which is your favorite creature that inspired one of your pieces?

Portuguese man o’war. Such an amazing creature.

From ideas to materials… Unravel your process from scratch.

When I create wigs, I simply start by making a lace base and knot the hair strands into the mesh laces using wig ventilating needle. Sometimes the hair extensions are coloured before, or after stitching them. Either way. Once the wig is made, I start to think about the style and character. When I create head props, I use any materials. Sometimes I get inspired by the materials first. But sometimes I design first and find the best material to realise the design. I try to make the head props as light as possible, because that’s more comfortable.

Your art has been worn by Bjork and Grimes to name a few, and has been featured in brands like Junya Watanabe and recently Collina Strada, Maison Margiela, Marc Jacobs, Yueqi Qi. Your dream collaboration that hasn't happened yet?

My dream collaboration would be for Tim Burton’s films. I’m a huge fan.

You are also part of Konomad - an artist-run platform that exists both online and offline. How did this project come about and with what aspirations?

It’s a space for dreams, for independent artists to make a creative community, where they can make connections with creators by doing collaborative projects, events and exhibitions. I’ve always been an independent artist, working on my own, so I thought it could be nice to make a space for artists to meet up with new creators. Offline events are actually very important and meaningful to physically connect / talk with people, and I find both artists and visitors are enjoying konomad pop-up events. I plan irregularly and update information on @konomadinc. We also operate as an independent publisher for our own books, and we do art direction and design for clients.

As they’re linked to identity expression, hair can hide and reveal. Imagine do design a wig for your own persona. How would it be?

It would be just a simple black topper. Which is similar to my hair style.

Is there something you haven’t done yet that you wish you’ll do?

I’d like to open a new type of hair salon + gallery space. I’m thinking to keep doing exhibitions and konomad popup events, but at some point I’d like to combine that with hair salon. I think people would appreciate that.