Today, the conception of beauty swings back and forth between two polar opposites. On one hand, there are movements that promote inclusivity and self-acceptance, on the other, the market for cosmetic surgery and corrective treatments grows more and more everyday. A division is emerging between the psychological distress caused by non-conformity with common aesthetic standards and physical interventions that often are aimed at achieving increasingly unattainable standards. Hair loss is an indicative example of this state, a common and natural phenomenon, but perceived as a defect that needs to be corrected.

With Tressless, designers Jennifer Anger and Davidè Iozzo want to challenge society and its conception. Their project is based on a mission, instead of hiding hair loss, transforming it into a distinctive aesthetic element. Almost as something people would be jealous of. Instead of relegating it to stigma or imperfection, they propose to give power to it as a trait of uniqueness, a detail that adds value rather than detracting it. 

Tressless’ strength relies on the very strong visual language they used for the pictures. The images don’t want to reassure the audience, but to stimulate reflection in them. Hair is treated as an entity separate from the body, a voluminous construction that is transformed into a wearable sculpture. The combination of hair patches and braids, with oversized furs and big silhouettes underlines the theatrical effect, placing the hair, or its absence, at the center of attention.

The important aspect is the balance between excess and vulnerability. The models do not embody a stereotypical ideal, they are breaking the mold by presenting themselves as suspended figures,  proudly displaying the marks of their own history without hiding them. The styling is a play of contrasts. Hair is transformed into elaborate structures and it converts diversity into a narrative element rather than a gap to be filled.

Tressless stands not only as a campaign about self-acceptance. But as a cultural take that redefines beauty’s horizon,  creating a reality where hair loss is not a failure, but a territory to be explored. It is a reversal of perspective in an era that aspires to inclusivity but continues to exclude those who do not adhere to the prevailing aesthetic parameters.