First Name: Gabi
Age: 24
Works in: Creative Arts/Graphic Design
Natural since: 2005 (via a big chop)
On natural hair: I love it! It compliments my style L says~Mine too!
I was born and raised in the UK so I’m a native. I live behind Leavesden Studios where they film Harry Potter (and some of the James Bond movies) – I’ve never actually read any of the books or seen the movies but you can see a lot of the big buildings when you drive past which is pretty cool.
On natural hair and work…
I think recently, the natural hair scene has gotten bigger over here. The spots where I tend to hang out attract a lot of women with natural hair which I really like. I work as a graphic designer for ITN which is a news station and I’ve only recently started wearing natural hair and I was pretty scared about taking out my straight braids. Most of the women in my department have relaxed hair and I guess because when it comes to the news you don’t usually see a lot of news readers of colour rocking frohawks and dreads! L says~I had never thought of this and this is so true! I am in the news industry, and I know of many Black women who automatically get that weave or that relaxer if their aim is to do TV reporting. One of the reasons I haven’t been interested in TV reporting is my hair. It’s just not gonna fly. I got the usual ‘omg did you cut your hair/I didn’t recognise you!’ comments and just smiled politely, lol.
On her T-shirt design business…
I’ve wanted to be a T-Shirt designer since I was about 5, but I’ve been selling shirts for about 2 or 3 years now.
My designs are inspired by so many things; my friends, my heritage, conversations I’ve had with people, wacky ideas I’ve had that I’ve managed to make designs from! It took me so many years to come up with a name for my company but I finally decided on G*ology – G being the first letter of my name, and the ology part basically meaning every shirt that’s produced, each design is a part of who I am.
Quite a few of my customers are actually natural women from the US! I guess the themes of a lot of my shirts are quite niche so my sales vary. I’m definitely on the look out to find venues and magazines to advertise my tees and also as my life experience changes, the designs I add will change.
Some of Gabi’s T-shirts
On hair…
I’ve recently started buying products online. I also frequent Harlesden as there are a lot of hair supply shops in the area. I feel like going natural is a bold step for women here in the UK as so many women choose weaves via accepting their natural hair, so it’s a definite confidence booster for me.
I would like to see more natural hair salons and more hair supply stores owned by Black people. They had a natural hair expo called Adornment a few years ago which was fantastic, but it’s not on anymore – so I would like to see more expo’s for women like myself who are interested in natural hair care.
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Thanks Gabi! Good insights and your designs are dope!
To see more of Gabi’s T-shirt designs, check www.iamgology.com
So I’ve pulled the plug on our work styles giveaway. I’ll discuss why in my upcoming Sunday retrospective. In the meanwhile, if you need some style inspiration for work, check the BGLH archives… TOOONS of sh*t there. The natural hair in the workplace discussion is still going on, with several interesting points being made. Feel free to weigh in here.
This profile of Gabi is a work styles giveaway entry that I morphed into a regular profile… And after reading through her interview I thought of the only profession I know of where you can be fired for going natural — news/TV reporting.
