How Doechia’s iconic braids from “The Late Show” were created – essence

Throughout history, our hair (think hair salons and barbershops) has kept the Black community united. And 4-time GRAMMY-nominated artist Doechii took the connection literally.

The Tampa artist performed last night Late Show with Stephen Colbert with braids tied to each background dancers. “It was more than just her look, but the collective look of all the performers” – the hairdresser behind this iconic moment, Malcolm Marquezsays ESSENCE. With all three women in an identical teams, “we connected all the dancers with the ends of their braids to create the illusion of a continuous braid.”

As an expression of daring to classic braids, Doechii referred to the wardrobe of Solange performing in 2016 on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to be performed by a hairdresser. “The theme we wanted to explore was connectivity – how hair (braids in particular) connects us to each other, but also how hair connects us to us,” says Marquez. He also added a reference from Spanish artist Carlotta Guerro, with whom he collaborated on a photograph shoot in 2019.

Performing two songs, “Denial is a River” and “Boiled Peanuts” from his latest album, Doechii’s hair look also spoke to the music icons of the past who’re recognized on the album. “Her sound right now is about paying respect to classic hip-hop artists like MF DOOM,” he says. “The connected braids were really a way to honor our ancestors as people, but also as artists.”

To achieve this look, Marquez and his team prolonged the braids (braided in keeping with… Yanna) about 50 inches more using pre-stretched hair and Shine ‘N Jam Magic Fingers. “We’ve found that tapering the ends of the braids as thinly as possible is the best way to create the smoothest connection possible,” she says, sealing the tip with hair glue for 30 seconds. “From there, each braid was hand sewn to the exact same length for each braid.”

As easy because the technique was, the look required per week of testing in prototype braids to check the scale and length at which they might move most. “This is my first self-choreographed performance and one of the most important things I wanted to highlight was my connection to black women through hip hop,” Doechii wrote in an Instagram post.

Once Marquez knew find out how to pull off this look, he wore braids on the evening and morning of the show. “Between makeup, fittings and sound checks, we only had about an hour to get the girls together,” she says. Set with GÖT2B® Smooth and fixating moussethe interconnected braids were the icing on the cake of the evening’s masterpiece.