Candy Fashion Experience

In the show “Candy,” artist and designer Taylor Childs reflects on her family’s roots in Detroit's hair industry, examining the rich relationship between Black hair and the city.

The history of Black hair is deeply intertwined with Detroit's cultural, social, and economic development, reflecting broader trends in African American history, identity, and activism. Detroit, often called the “Motor City,” has been a center of African American migration, particularly during the Great Migration, which brought Black families from the rural South to urban centers in the North between 1910 and 1970. This migration significantly influenced how Black communities in Detroit Shaped their cultural expressions, including hair.

Childs has deep ties to the Detroit's beauty culture. Her father co-owns The Village Beauty & Barber Salon located on Jefferson, and she grew up inside of hair salons like Alta Moda on Gratiot. Her grandmother, Sonja Brown, practiced as an esthetician and beautician in…