They want ‘the coronavirus’ – hairstyle at Kenya salon that’s all spikes, twists and grimaces of pain

Hairstylists in Kenya’s biggest slum are looking to drum up business with a braided look inspired by the coronavirus

To achieve the look, braiders part a client’s hair into sections, then twist and wrap each to look like virus spike proteins

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Martha Apisa, 12, gets the coronavirus hairstyle at Mama Brayo Beauty Salon in Kibera, in Nairobi, Kenya. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:00pm, 8 May 2020Updated: 1:15pm, 8 May 2020

Through winces and grins, two girls wearing face masks and surrounded by posters of different hairstyles bowed their heads for their hairdressers. But the spiky look they were getting – “the coronavirus” – was still too new to appear on any poster.

In Kibera, Kenya’s largest slum, hairdressers have created a new style, designed to emulate the appearance of the virus under a microscope.

It’s the latest example of service industry workers finding ways to appeal as stay-at-home rules and collapsing incomes reduce customer numbers.

The three braiders at the Mama Brayo Beauty Salon start by parting their clients’ hair into about a dozen sections. They then twist and wrap each one with thick black thread, so it can stand out straight in defiance of gravity. The resulting tresses resemble the spike proteins on a coronavirus membrane.

Martha Apisa, 12, and Stacy Ayuma, eight, are given the coronavirus hairstyle at Mama Brayo Beauty Salon in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Photo: Reuters

An illustration of the coronavirus. Photo: EPA-EFE/CDC

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