A Sam McKnight Somerset House hair exhibition is coming

40 years of his hairstyles, in one place? Ye splease

He’s the man who created that Chanel ponytail (made famous by Cara Delevingne and adopted by Miley Cyrus) and now Sam McKnight is set to have his own major exhibition, Hair by Sam McKnight, to be shown in Somerset House in November. 

An integral part of the fashion industry, Sam has been instrumental in helping to develop the images of some of the biggest and most influential names in fashion, such as Kate Moss, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and Princess Diana, to name just a few, and has worked with numerous international designers from Chanel to Vivienne Westwood. Simply looking through his Instagram posts is like looking through a who’s who of the fashion and beauty industry.

And so, the world will celebrate one of the most accomplished and well-respected hair stylists of his generation.

The exhibition itself is the first of its kind and will unveil the little-known creative process behind the craft of hair styling within fashion, spanning Sam’s remarkable 40 year career, from the late 1970s to the current day. 

Exhibiting pieces from Sam’s extensive archive, the exhibition, curated by Sohonagh Marshall and designed by Michael Howells, will feature photography, magazines, catwalk and behind-the-scenes footage, as well as commissioned wigs and hairpieces. A hair fanatic’s dream. 

And that’s not all. At the same time as the exhibition, a book by the same name, Hair by Sam McKnight, is to be launched, offering a glamorous tour through the past forty years in hair.