Afro hair is claiming the spotlight across the UK, with major cities donating billboards to promote to a new #Afrovisibility campaign.
The initiative, in partnership with hair care brand Cantu, presents diverse images of beauty that aim to inspire black girls and women to feel confident about their natural hair – as opposed to feeling the need to wear wigs and weaves.
Nottingham City Council and media conglomerate Clear Channel donated billboards in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Southampton, Newcastle and Glasgow to support the campaign created by awareness group Project Embrace.
“When you feel empowered, you can achieve anything,” said Lekia Lée, founder of Project Embrace.
“This is how we want black women and girls – and anyone else with curly hair – to feel after seeing our billboards.
“We want to inspire them to feel confident in the skin they are in and the hair that that they wear.”
The images feature women, including a teacher, finance manager, student and receptionist, that were cast through an open audition.
Trevor Robinson, founder of Quiet Storm, the branding agency behind the campaign, said: “Lack of black representation in the media and how that affects our kids – my own being a perfect example – is obviously an issue close to me.
“When you're constantly bombarded with caucasian perfection and there is nobody out there similar to you it's hard to feel good about yourself, and we can't underestimate the effect this has.”
