A claw clip, also called a jaw clip, is a hair accessory with metal or plastic teeth that clamp into the wearer's hair.
Origin and design
The clap clip was designed by Christian Potut, a French businessman.[1] In 1986, his company CSP Diffusion opened its first factory located in Oyonnax, France, where it produced plastic items like combs and yo-yos.[2] "One day I kept crossing and uncrossing my fingers and that's when I had my lightbulb moment. I said to myself: 'I sell combs and clips, why don't I combine the two?'" he told the BBC.[2]
By the mid-1990s, the company sold hundreds of thousands of hair clips each month and had more than fifty employees. Potut's top markets were US and Japan. He did not apply for a patent, and though his design was protected in France, it was not legally protected worldwide. He told the BBC that "it's been copied because only good things are worth copying."[2]
The claw clip may have been inspired by the banana clip, which was popular during the 1980s.[3]
History
Claw clips were common in the 1990s when plastic hair accessories grew in popularity.[4] Hairdos with claw clips tend to be simple and easy to perform, ranging from spiky 90s-style updos, twisted buns held in place by the clip, and a "waterfall" style in which hair flows over of the top of the clip.[5] Unlike tight hairstyles, claw clip updos result in less hair breakage.[6]
Claw clips were associated with Jennifer Aniston's character Rachel Green on the TV show Friends.[7][3]
In 2018, an Alexander Wang fashion show featured large chrome silver claw clips stamped with Wang's name.[3][8]
Claw clips had a resurgence in the 2020s as part of the Y2K fashion revival, gaining popularity on TikTok and receiving attention from celebrities such as Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and Hailey Bieber.[9][10][5]
In several instances, car accidents have caused the clips to lodge into the wearers' heads.[11][12][13]
References
- ^ "French inventor Christian Potut on designing the iconic claw clip". Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ a b c "'My dad, the claw hair clip inventor'". 2022-11-02. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ a b c Nguyen, Terry (2021-11-12). "The lasting appeal of the claw clip". Vox. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ "I Wore '90s Hair Accessories for a Week". ELLE. 2018-05-30. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
- ^ a b Rasmus, Grace (2023-06-14). "'I Wear It Every Single Day.' Why 20-Somethings Can't Get Enough of This Y2K Hair Trend". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ "The Benefits of Switching to Claw Clips". Brooklyn Magazine. 2022-11-04. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ Malone Kircher, Madison (September 9, 2022). "Claw Clips Claw Their Way Back". The New York Times.
- ^ Ruffner, Zoe (2018-02-16). "19 Iconic Women Who Made the Claw Clip Look Good, From Julia Roberts to Hillary Clinton". Vogue. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ Cochrane, Lauren (2021-08-13). "Straight from 2000s: latest fashion 'it' piece is the £3 claw clip". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ "How TikTok helped the resurgence of claw clips". NBC News. 2021-03-03. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ "University of Derby student's hair claw clip warning after car crash". 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ^ "Woman reveals how hair claw clip lodged into her head". The Independent. 2023-03-24. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
- ^ Camero, Katie (2023-03-15). "You'll Never Want To Ride In A Car While Wearing A Claw Clip After Hearing These Stories". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
This page was last edited on 1 February 2024, at 22:12