Zhou Xue Ming has become a recognizable name in the fashion industry, known for transforming hair into wearable sculpture. The 34-year-old hairstylist and wig artist works from a studio in Shanghai’s Pudong district, where the space is filled with wigs in various stages of creation. His work appears in international campaigns, runway shows, and publications like Vogue and Dazed. For Mugler’s spring/summer 2025 show in Paris, Zhou crafted the vision-obscuring hairpieces seen on the catwalk and by Cardi B in the front row, a seat he notes can be difficult to handle with such a dramatic look.
Creating from chaos
The studio environment is described as chaotic, with metal shelves holding unfinished pieces and the ceiling displaying larger works made of straw, hair, and braids. Zhou says he acts on ideas immediately without concern for tidiness, and his creative process involves dyeing, cutting, and sculpting wigs into various shapes. He calls the base wig a “máo pēi,” or rough shell, and uses trial and error to develop his designs. His reference images are his own past experiments, kept in a private book rather than sold to the public.
Creating these wigs is a collaborative effort requiring multiple people to handle pieces that can be up to two metres tall. The studio also houses a blue trolley with tools like heads, combs, and chemicals, alongside 12 blow dryers that have “almost all broken from use.” Despite the physical demands, Zhou says he has become accustomed to the strong smell associated with the chemicals and glue guns used in the process.
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A personal history
Zhou grew up in Shouxian County in Anhui Province, where his family ran a restaurant. He describes himself as “mischievous” at school and recalls styling his own hair in junior high, wearing it upright in homage to punk while listening to rock music. He cites the 1996 film Trainspotting as a formative influence, noting how the film’s ragged crops and buzz cuts offered a visual grammar of youth in revolt. After leaving school, he became an apprentice at a local barber’s.
While his work allows him to transform models quickly and radically without the limitations of natural hair, Zhou also views wigs as tools for privacy. He keeps his personal life separate from his professional one, noting that people in his building do not know what he does. “If it’s beautiful, then it has a use,” he says of his creations.
