OWN released a new trailer for the docuseries The Hair Tales that highlights all the facets of a Black woman's hair. From the history that influenced their style to the artistry that goes into creating such intricate and beautiful hairdos and the identity that the hair ultimately is a part of, the show will explore everything about hair through the personal stories of influential Black women. As the footage indicates, the conversations will go much farther, examining the relationship of hair with the culture and humanity of these women and how it has often been suppressed over the years. Created by Michaela angela Davis (Hair Tales: The Parlor) and Tracee Ellis Ross (black-ish), the series premieres on October 22 on Hulu and OWN.
The trailer shows off Black hair of all shapes and sizes before diving into how these styles are only possible today because of years of changes surrounding the perception of hair. Before it was celebrated, Black hairstyles often had a stigma attached to them and many men and women would straighten their hair to be more "presentable" or to meet white beauty standards. The result was a generation of people growing up to be ashamed of what they were born with, an experience the series' guests echo through stories of their youth. Through those stories, Hair Tales aims to connect hair with humanity for Black women.
The second half of the teaser outlines what the series is about at its core — celebrating identity and the role hair plays in that for Black women. It celebrates not just the beauty of hair, but the freedom that showing one's own style brings and what it says about the woman underneath it all. To really drive home the individuality of it all, the series boasts six influential and unique guests for its six-episode run including Oprah Winfrey, eight-time Emmy nominee Issa Rae (Insecure), Grammy nominees Chlöe Bailey and Chika, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, and Marsai Martin of black-ish fame.
In addition to her appearance for an episode, Winfrey will also serve as an executive producer with Ross and Davis alongside Tara Duncan, Raeshem Nijhon, Carri Twigg, and Kisha Imani Cameron. The docuseries is produced in a collaboration between Culture House, Joy Mill Entertainment, Tetravision, and Harpo Films with Onyx Collective the other network behind it besides OWN and Hulu.
Davis is returning to an old concept with The Hair Tales, previously creating Hair Tales: The Parlor, a 2016 micro doc miniseries revolving around a similar concept and featuring the likes of Regina King, Tasha Smith, and Mara Brock Akil among others. Davis joined forces with her good friend Ross to bring her idea to a larger scale through OWN with six one-hour episodes instead, allowing for longer, deeper conversations and stories all about Black hair.
The Hair Tales premieres its first two episodes on OWN and Hulu on October 22. Afterward, Hulu will drop two new episodes weekly while OWN will air one each week at its 9 p.m. ET/PT time slot. Check out the trailer below.