n the U.K., hair styling workshops and accessible fashion shows are helping those with vision loss feel more included, confident and self-reliant.
May 26, 2025
“On a spring morning in March 2025, a group of women gathered in a hall above a bus station in Hackney, about 4.5 miles from London. In front of them was a dazzling array of conditioners, serums, mousses and hairbrushes, punctuated by the odd mannequin head. Amid merriment and banter, they learned how to use different products and tools and felt the texture of their own hair. They learned about the optimum amounts of product needed to keep their hair looking fabulous — even if they could not see it for themselves.
This was no ordinary hair styling session. Led by hair stylist Anna Cofone, who has tamed the manes of Lana Del Rey, Dua Lipa and other glamorous stars, this workshop taught people with vision loss how to experiment with hairstyles and products and feel their way around different brushes. Learning to groom themselves, Cofone believes, could help over two million people in the United Kingdom who live with vision loss to feel more included by the fashion and beauty industry — and become more self-reliant and confident.
Growing up with a father who had retinitis pigmentosa and began losing his eyesight in his twenties, Cofone witnessed first-hand how vision loss erodes confidence, lowers self esteem and renders the person, as Cofone puts it, ‘invisible.’ One of the hardest things for Cofone was to watch him walk into a room, and just not be seen or acknowledged. “I realized that people tend not to really see people with disabilities,” she says. “It was quite sad as a child looking at my dad’s life; his world was so small.” “