Hair: ‘This is just thrown but it’s gold’

Zeeshan Ali has been a drag artist for 10 years and has taken his show across India.

The central is a collection of about 45 wigs for their performance.

“It is a change of identity, which helps me infection from my everyday self -exaggerated, glamorous or craze characters. The Right Wig makes me feel more authentic and gives me the right to command the stage, “Ali says, which is located in Mumbai.

But it was not right to see that it was not easy in the early days.

“When I started my career, Wigs was extremely difficult in India. Most of them were to be sour from abroad or I used to sour wig with whatever was available for me like Wool, fabric. “

But things are different now.

“The trend is changing. Wigs are no longer only for drags or movie artists, but many straight women wear wigs to look different. It is no longer a hair accessory, but a style statement. ,

Indian hair has always been in demand to create wig. The nation is the largest exporter in the human hair world, which supplies 85% of global demand.

Kolachi Venkatesh, located in Avadi, Chennai, has been collecting hair for 20 years. He started in the lower part of the industry as a picker – collecting hair from homes and protecting it from nonsense.

“My parents were hair pickers and then I started doing the same,” they say.

Hair collected by picker from homes, salons and barber shops is called non-ramy hair.

This requires more processing than rami hair, which is carefully shaved to shave directly from the skull. Nevertheless, it has value.

“It is just thrown, but it’s gold,” Sri Venkatesh says.

Those pickers typically sell hair between 10 cents and $ 1 (£ 0.80) per kg to local traders, which are based on hair quality and length.

Short or damaged hair decreases, while prolonged strands bring high prices.

For personal picker, it does not have much money.

“A hardworking collector can collect 1-5 kg ​​of hair in a day, which earns $ 59 to $ 6 per day anywhere. This income level is often less than the minimum wage standards, especially in rural areas, ”Sri Venkatesh says, who have 50 picker working.

“While our work contributes to the global market of one Arab-dollar, our earnings are less. Middlemen control prices. ,

Most of the Indian hair collected by traders like Sri Venkatesh is exported to China where it is made in wigs.

“China has a huge depression industry, which costs five to six billion dollars,” the child industry body, which promotes contact with the Indian industry and the government, says Benjamin Cherian of PlexConcil.

If India wants a piece of attractive wig market, it says, then there is a lot to do it.

“When we look at China, hundreds of factories are spread across the country that add value to the hair industry, while in India the price joint still needs to be lifted,” says Mr. Cherian.

He says that the government needs to help promote investment in the hair industry.

“It requires automatic pruning systems, sophisticated hair treatment procedures for collected hair, innovative production technology for the manufacture of wig that will make India out.”

Instead of exporting hair for hundreds of dollars, India should sell thousands of dollars worth wig, called Mr. Cherian.

“We have started working on it but it has to go a long way. We need research and training centers, “they say.

An Indian business is trying to create inroads, Diva Divya Bal, a Delhi-based Divya Bal, has been co-established by Nidhi Tiwari in 2009.

The idea was to create high quality hair extensions and wigs that would appeal to a broader category of customers.

“These solutions are needed due to hair loss in India and thinner among women,” says Ms. Tiwari.

The company has helped with a change in attitude.

“Once a niche or taboo is considered a taboo subject, wig and extension are now openly discussed, thanks to a change to develop social norms and towards acceptance,” she says.

Wigs have also seen a lot of development that make them more attractive and comfortable.

Says Ms. Tiwari, “Technologies such as 3D-printed wigs and digital color-mill tool offer highly personal options. Light, breathing wig cap and better adhesives have made customers to customers wearing it for a long time without any inconvenience. Has given. “

At the top end of the hair market, there are temples or Remie Bal.

Most of the supply comes from Hindu temples in the south of the country where hair is shaved in the work of captivating and trust.

Raj Hair International Temple is one of the biggest traders in the hair business.

Craftsmen in the company’s Chennai factory grade and grade hair according to color, texture and length.

George Cherian, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, says, “Remi Hair has aligned the cuticles, the hair flows evenly in one direction, which has a low tangling and a silk texture. It is high-value hair.”

The firm tries to ruin as little hair as possible. It develops a machine to open hair to help with it. This allowed them to work rapidly with less employees.

“Our mission is to upgrade technology continuously,” is called Mr. Cherian.

business is booming.

“Indian humans are in demand globally due to their high quality, natural form and thinness. The demand is skyrocketing,” they say.

Mumbai wants to see more Indian wigs on the market back in Zeeshan Ali.

Also with making them more economical, they have a design suggestion: “A wig that can make a wow factor.”