TRESS TREND BRAND STORY

From Broken Strands to Crowns of Millions: The Redemption Journey of a Black Boy and a Wig

I was born on the South Side of Chicago, in a proud yet struggling Black neighborhood. I remember the early mornings—my mother hunched over me and my sisters, working miracles with a cracked comb and calloused hands. Our hair, stubborn and coiled like steel wool, resisted every dollop of coconut oil. No matter how hard she tried, those curls stood tall and defiant.

Worse still, my own hairline was betraying me. It receded fast, exposing an inflamed scalp that felt like a scarlet target painted by God Himself.
“Is a Black boy’s hair the devil’s doormat?”
I’ll never forget the first day of 7th grade. My mom had twisted my hair into neat knots. I walked into class. The white boys pulled at my hair, laughed hysterically—
“Yo, check it out! He got spiders crawling on his head!”
By lunch, my backpack was in the toilet, and someone had jammed gum into every braid.

The Window Display and the Slap of Reality

On my 15th birthday, I snuck into a wig shop in a white suburb, clutching $83 I’d earned doing odd jobs. In the display window was a honey-blonde wave—shining like success. I had seen it in music videos, on moguls, on “made-it” men.

But when I pointed to it, the clerk hit the silent alarm.
"You might wanna check the corner store for a 'ghetto weave'—oh, and maybe wash your hair first," she sneered.
Moments later, I was face-down on the glass, a cop’s knee in my back. And somewhere deep in my bones, something cracked.

By 25, 32% of Black men experience visible hair loss. But we’re not allowed to be vulnerable. Either you go bald—or you wear a cheap synthetic wig that rots your scalp. For Black women, the situation is even more severe: alopecia affects them at more than four times the rate of white women. And yet, dignity is still a luxury for most of us.

The Basement Trials: A Boy Enters the “Women's World”

I became an unpaid apprentice at a local Black barbershop—mostly sweeping hair off the floor. When I asked to learn about wigs, the owner slammed down his clippers.
“Wigs? That’s for women and weirdos.”
The customers laughed, stubbing their cigarettes out in the very pile I’d just cleaned.

At night, I studied discarded hairpieces. Synthetic strands melted under heat. Cheap lace caps suffocated the skin. Worst were the glues marketed to Black women—78% of users developed allergic reactions. But this was our "only" option.

A Journey Through Global Exploitation

At 20, I found myself in a wig factory. Dirty sacks spilled with hair hacked from trafficked Dalit women. Some bundles were matted with rodent droppings and blood scabs. “Virgin Indian hair” was bleached ghost-white, then dyed back black. Burmese strands, sold as “pure,” were laced with plastic fibers.

Yet these wigs were sold to Black women at 10x markup—women who were already stretching rent over two paychecks.

Vision and Revolution: The Birth of Tresstrend

I spent two decades traveling, learning, rebuilding from the ground up. And what I discovered was this: only real, untreated human hair—sourced ethically—can truly meet our community’s needs.

From remote villages in India to serene towns in Switzerland, I searched for untouched hair: never bleached, never permed, protected under scarves, rich with natural luster. I wanted wigs that were light as air, soft enough to slip between fingertips, and fragrant with the scent of authenticity. I wanted hair that seduced with a glance, that whispered intimacy with every strand.

And so, I created Tresstrend.

If no one will crown us, we will forge our own.

In 1986, I broke into the “Black Gold Empire” that controlled 70% of the global wig trade. We tore up the rules.

Material Revolution: We built a traceable, ethical supply chain—from the long black braids of Yunnan schoolgirls to the sacred temple tresses of Vietnam. No bleach. No lies.

Tech Innovation: Our proprietary Bone Straight process mimics natural hair alignment—heat safe up to 392°F, with 3x the lifespan.

Design Reimagination: Ultra-thin 0.03mm lace + lifelike scalp textures = undetectable edges. Our glue-free magnetic fit installs in 3 seconds, protecting your follicles and your peace of mind.

Beauty Should Be a Right, Not a Privilege

Today, Tresstrend’s viral Put On & Go series is rewriting beauty norms on TikTok:

Julie, a single mom, dons our red bob in a job interview video that garners 1.2 million likes.

Marsha, a cancer survivor, wears our medical-grade cap for the first time—finally removing her headscarf to hug her granddaughter.

At New York Fashion Week, models flaunt our colorable human hair units backstage: “It’s the Tesla of wigs!” one stylist gasps.

This isn’t just hair. It’s dignity for 36 million Black women.

When my mother first tried on our $59.9 “Naturally Yours” unit, she ran her fingers through the cascade of hair and whispered,
“I never knew I could be this beautiful…”

In that moment, I realized—we weren’t just breaking price barriers. We were dismantling centuries of stolen beauty.

The Tresstrend Manifesto:

Beauty should never mean pain. (No more sore scalps.)
Beauty should never cost your rent. (No more $1,200 lies.)
Beauty is your birthright. (It’s your born-right.)