Bury St Edmunds visited by celebrity hair stylist Lisa Farral who has worked with Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles and Kendrick Lamar

A superstar hair stylist who worked on Kendrick Lamar’s music video for the Black Panther soundtrack gave a very special masterclass for West Suffolk College students on Tuesday, March 22.

Lisa Farral, a session stylist who travels all around the country working on music videos, campaigns and photo shoots, visited Moyse’s Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds to teach students about the importance of gaining experience on textured hair.

As well as working with celebrities, Lisa is also an educator through her business, Wig London, and teaches salons how to be texture neutral.

She said: "I was just at the Brit Awards with Ed Sheeran and Bring Me the Horizon and there was about 50 extras. I don’t want to be in a position where I have to say, ‘I can’t do your hair’ or turn people away.

"When I was 14, I worked in a salon and a woman walked in with textured hair and got turned away. It wasn’t because the hair stylist I worked for was racist, it was because they hadn’t taken the time to educate themselves.

"We can use the area we live in or the colour of our skin but actually there’s no excuse for it."

Lisa added why it is so important to teach students about working with all kinds of hair types.

"It's super important to teach the next generation because that's what they are they're the next generation. We have to lead by example."

The 35-year-old showed hair dressing and barbering students how to lay edges - slicking down baby hairs using gel - and how to apply wigs.

Lisa used her afro hair skills in the Kendrick Lamar and SZA 'All the Stars' music video used as the lead single to the soundtrack album of the Black Panther film.

Ellisha Soanes, equality, diversity and inclusion officer for West Suffolk College, organised the event. She also supports Abbeygate Sixth Form College and Suffolk One in Ipswich.

She said: "It’s really important that we’ve got the Black Panther exhibition now in Bury St Edmunds and I thought how amazing would it be to get Lisa who has worked on the music video for the Black Panther soundtrack and has worked with afro hair to come and do a masterclass."

"It’s a great way of getting students industry ready. We want to make sure they’ve got all the skills and are prepared to go into the industry. We don’t want anybody to not feel inclusive," she added.

Health and social care student, 19-year-old Melody, said: "I really enjoyed it and I think Lisa was very inclusive.

"It was really nice that she was able to talk from experience about doing hair like mine because normally it’s never about my hair texture. She was able to answer every question."