FKA Twigs just won her first-ever Grammy Award for her Best Dance/Electronic Album Eusexua. And, in true Twigs fashion, her hair was her plus one. But, it wasn’t her anthurium red, gelled spikes, and mullet locs that caught our eye (shocking, right?). It was the four-pointed basketweave encircled with a single micro braid.
On the first day of Black History Month, Twigs’s hairstylist Louis Souvestre—known for styling her experimental hair transformations—was the architect behind her statement hair look. While the shape was a Celtic cross, honoring her stylist’s heritage, the weaving technique and braid has a history deeply connected to Black culture.
The style, consisting of interweaving flat, often heavily gelled strands (traditionally using Macassar oil or bear’s grease) are folded to resemble a basket. It’s a style seen throughout the Victorian-era and 19th-century, but also prevalent in African culture, including the Mangbetu people from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
And, its impact is felt even today. For one, it was the foundation for modern hair weaving patented in 1951 by the Black scientist and pioneer of cosmetology Christina Jenkins. Then, the style continued its rise from then on, known in Black culture for its sensational use in hair shows in the 1990s.
But, it wasn’t the first time we saw FKA Twigs in a basketweave. At the 2024 Met Gala, her basketweave was more than just a broach-like hair accessory, but an over-arching, multi-layered main attraction. This time, however, she paired her dramatic style with a decrepit old book inscribed with her Eusexua logo, a red anthurium flower (which matched her hair color), and a shockingly simple nude manicure.
It’s the perfect style for her first Grammy Award win, and simultaneously, the perfect compliment to a month honoring Black History—all while staying true to the electric hair identity she’s known for.
