02/06/2025
*Hair Talk Thursday*
Andre Walker, a renowned hairstylist known for working with numerous celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey, pioneered what is now called the Walker Hair Typing System. This system marked a shift in hair classification, focusing on hair waviness and curliness rather than ethnicity or race. Walker described Type 1 as straight hair, while the subsequent types were categorized by increasing curl patterns. Type 2 represented wavy hair, Type 3 curly hair, and Type 4 coily hair.
Type 1 hair was characterized by being completely straight with no wave. Walker subdivided each hair type into subcategories based on hair diameter or the degree of waviness and curliness. For Type 1, the subtypes were based on hair diameter:
• Type 1A: Fine, straight hair with a small diameter
• Type 1B: Straight hair with a medium diameter
• Type 1C: Coarse, straight hair with a large diameter
For Type 2 and Type 3, the subcategories were determined by the degree of waviness or curl definition rather than hair diameter. Type 4, however, was divided into two subtypes—4A and 4B—based on curl tightness and hair thickness, which related to fiber diameter.
Interestingly, Walker’s classification did not rely on the physical or chemical properties of hair fibers, nor did it create a “periodic table” of hair straightness and curliness to explain hair characteristics along a continuum. Instead, it provided a broad framework for describing hair textures, offering a useful reference point for understanding hair diversity but leaving room for further scientific refinement and classification.