This story originally appeared in i-D’s The Ultra! Issue, no. 369, Fall 2022. Order your copy here.
If you’ve ever walked through a residential London neighbourhood around 8am or 4pm, you’ll know how particular the city’s school culture is. While in metropoles across the channel – and across the pond – mufti-clad secondary (or high) school students are almost indiscernible from the general population, here they stick out in their twee uniforms: shrunken suits with candy stripe ties; dainty summer dresses in gingham checks and black pleated or pencil skirts. While some would argue that imposing such sartorial strictures on growing minds would stem their creativity, the truth is quite the opposite. In fact, these ostensible limitations only spur the city’s students to find ways to express themselves – to hoik up hemlines, customise backpacks and tie ties into cartoonishly chunky knots.
One of the most notable means used by London’s young students to show the world who they really are, though, is hairstyling. Tight buns, Bantu knots, gel-slicked baby girls, illustrative buzz cuts, box braids, gravity- defying fans of hair lacquered into place: looking at the heads that populate a London schoolyard is like thumbing through a salon’s menu of styles in real-time. More than curious observations, for hairstylist Amidat Giwa and photographer Bolade Banjo, these are firsthand memories.
Both South London natives – growing up in New Cross and Forest Hill respectively – the hairstyles that figure in the images printed here echo those they saw on the playground or, in Amidat’s case, at her mother’s salon, where she first developed an appreciation for the expressive potential of hair styling.
Let’s begin with a little introduction to your relationship. How did you first meet, and how did you then first start working together?
Amidat Giwa: We first worked together on an editorial and the connection was instant – he’s a Londoner, he has a similar accent and vibe, and I hadn’t really come across anyone like that in the industry before. I was like, “Oh my god, I have to stick with this brother!”
Bolade Banjo: We synced in a very instinctive way and our relationship blossomed really naturally. The fashion industry is so big, and it can be very isolating, but when you find people who are within your world and understand your points of reference, it’s really exciting.
Speaking of points of reference, how did you settle on London school culture for this shoot?
Bolade: We’d both watched this film, Babyfather, around the same time, and we really geeked out over the hair styling and how fabulous everyone looked – it really encapsulates that late 90s mood and that sort of imagery was something that we both wanted to recreate.
Amidat: The story’s a product of our pasts.
Tell me a bit about your school days – what are your defining memories?
Amidat: Mine are definitely all about hair. I always did everybody’s hair at school. I was the one! So I think that’s why it was nice to put those hairstyles into imagery. I wanted to see those hairstyles again but reimagined in a modern context.
Bolade: It’s a time when you don’t have many responsibilities, and you have so much freedom to be the person you want to be.
Amidat: Yeah, definitely. School was very defining for me, and really set out the path towards who I then became. And that’s from my personality to the way I dress now as an adult and the way I talk. Anyone who meets me and speaks to me will know I’m from London and went to school there.
Bolade: South London!
Amidat: He won’t let me forget that! (laughs)
Bolade: But this idea of school being the first time that you’re encouraged to experiment and try things out was also a key part of the idea behind this story. Obviously, we all had to wear these uniforms, but what were the things that would really identify who you were? Was it the shoes? Was it the bag? Was it how you wore your tie? Those are the first real efforts that young people make to find themselves. And that then translates into everyday life – we all exist within certain confines, but we still find ways of expressing ourselves. School really is that first playground of experimentation.
How did your schoolyard memories guide the casting? I know that quite a few of the people in these images are students at London schools.
Amidat: It was like casting characters – you’d see someone, and they’d automatically remind you of someone that you used to hang out with in school.
Bolade: It was really about incorporating these distinct scenes and characters into the story in a subliminal way. When people see it, we hope that people will be able to see elements of their schooldays and the characters that were part of it.
There’s a specific nostalgia to the images: from the bus stop and corner shop shots to the picture with the signed leaver’s shirt. What sort of insight into British school culture do you hope to give?
Bolade: To me, it was less about giving insight, and more about celebrating our experiences. I guess I hope that people from outside of this culture see it and feel a sense of curiosity. I also hope that it expands the narrative of British culture beyond the clichés. We wanted to give people an understanding of what it’s really like to be British.
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Credits
Photography Bolade Banjo
Fashion Louis Prier Tisdall
Hair Amidat Giwa at Bryant Artists using Wella Professionals
Grooming Eph’s Grooming Lounge
Make-up Bea Sweet at CLM Agency using Pat McGrath
Nail technician Teo Budimir
Photography assistance Andrew Moores and Beatriz Puppo Amo
Lighting Adam Roberts
Fashion assistance Marina de Magalhaes, Connie Ng and Jadzia Scott
Hair assistance Avrelle Delisser and Gordon Chapples
Make-up assistance Viviane Melo and Jayde Coxon
Nail technician assistance Jessica Ciesco
Production Charlie Pender and Ieva Kolupailaite at Farago Projects
Production assistance Matt Lamb, Iveta Proskurinaite and Sade Sangar
Casting Najia Saad
Models Bebe Rayborn, Muyiwa Aruna and Melissa Benton-Aggrey at Milk, Jordan Whittingham at Next Models, Ocean Genevieve at Storm, Taylor Downie at Linden Staub, Chi Ennis Mclean at The Hive Management, Shaden Phillips and Seyi at Select, Sienna Reid at Tess Management, Lolade Adeoti at Supa