Danielle Igor’s editorial wigs are a cut above the rest
Written by Marianne Olaleye, JAIKU
Deeply inspired by high fashion, the founder has gone from making innovative wigs to styling Jorja Smith. And she’s just getting started.
Photographed by Krystal Nuevill
Fifteen-year-old Danielle Igor would spend her days making wigs. But these weren’t like what you’d find on the high street. Obsessed with fashion, she wanted to create the edgy, editorial looks she saw in magazines.
“I couldn’t find the styles I loved, so I created them myself,” she says.
There began her love affair with hair. While at university studying chemistry, she continued creating custom wigs as a side hustle and form of escapism. And while you might think her degree isn’t beauty-related, Igor had a plan all along. “I did chemistry so I could do product formulation,” she adds. Just one of her big business plans for the future.
Launching with bundles and just three distinct wigs – red, yellow and orange – Igor Hair rapidly became known for its experimental approach to hairstyling to celebrate Black culture.
Image courtesy of Igor Hair
It’s one of the reasons that Jorja Smith is now one of her main styling clients. “I recently went on tour with her,” she says. “I was recommended by an old creative director, and I've been doing it for about three years now.”
Her trade secret to offering premium hair? In 2023, Igor flew to Vietnam to source high-quality stock and secure consistent suppliers. It was that same year that she first applied for BGF and Glossier’s Black Beauty Grant Programme.
Coming runner-up, she decided to apply again in 2024, this time with better research and a more focused vision for the future.
“We want to create a whole experience around the hair and to have it as a salon-integrated concept store,” she explains. “[People] could come in, understand the world of Igor Hair, be in a space filled with art, and also get your hair done.”
Jorja Smith wearing Igor Hair, 2024 Album Campaign, photographed by Liz Johnson Artur
As one of 2024’s winners, now that dream feels more like a possibility. And when it comes to customer satisfaction, the funding has also enabled her to improve her customer wait times from three weeks, down to one. “Getting the grant gave me the confidence to move to the next step,” she says.
With clientele spanning Paris, New York and Nigeria, Igor wants to continue her expansion in the fashion capitals of the world, all while working with courier services like Fedex and DHL to improve shipping and logistics.
For any future founders thinking of applying to the grant, she recommends you,
“Feel the fear, do it anyway, and prepare!”
You’ve got nothing to lose.
Thank you so much to Dannielle for sharing such inspiring words with us.
Connect with Danielle or read more about the Black Beauty Grant programme here.
We’re eager to learn, collaborate, and share knowledge, so if you’re interested in working with us, say hello@blackgirlfest.com
BGF x
