AN AWARD-WINNING celebrity hairstylist has launched a new training doll with Afro hair in an effort to shake up the industry and improve understanding of textured hair.

Dionne Smith created the doll, which is named Ebony and features a head of 4A Afro hair, to offer stylists the opportunity to enhance their skills and learn how to care for and style Black hair.

Smith, who has worked with a range of stars including Regina King and Venus Williams, was inspired to create the doll to fix a problem she experienced when she was starting out and one she says still exists. When she began her career as a hairdresser there was no option to learn how to style using a training doll with Afro hair, only straight hair types were accessible. Today, Black celebrities still speak out about the lack of knowledge on set hairstylists have when it comes to handling their natural hair.

Smith told The Voice: “The inspiration for Ebony came from what I saw as a glaring gap in the market. Throughout my career I’ve been asked to train others on Afro textured hair, but sometimes we’ve either struggled to find an available model at short notice, or the trainee may perhaps feel nervous about making mistakes.”

Although the idea to create Ebony had been on Smith’s mind for a while, the pandemic and conversations and incidents around racial inequality gave her the push to go ahead with the product.

Smith, the creator of Signature by Dionne Smith, said: “Creating Ebony has been something I have wanted to do for years, but never really got the chance to execute it due to the hectic pace of life.”

She added: “I conducted a lot of research to bring Ebony to life, and this all occurred during the pandemic and at the time when all the issues surrounding Black Lives Matter were dominating the headlines and the conversation, so the timing just felt right.”

Hairdressers aren’t the only ones that Smith believes will benefit from using the Ebony doll, she says it will be beneficial to anyone who wants to practice styling natural Black hair. She also hopes that hair and beauty schools, colleges and academies will incorporate Ebony in their teaching so that aspiring hairdressers enter the industry better equipped.

“Ebony appeals to everyone really: professional stylists who are really keen to learn how to style Afro hair, hair influencers who are trying to up their game, and even parents who want to learn how to style their daughters’ or sons’ hair without any fuss,” said Smith.