For all the innovation the beauty industry loves to brag about, textured hair has historically been one of the last places technology seems to arrive. Halo wants to change that, and it’s bringing one of the industry’s most respected hair artists along for the ride.
Celebrity hairstylist Vernon François has joined hair technology company Halo as an expert advisor and its first-ever Creative Engineer, a role that puts his more than three decades of hands-on experience directly alongside the engineers developing HaloBraid, the company’s forthcoming braid-assist technology for professional stylists.
And yes, “Creative Engineer” sounds a little Silicon Valley. But François’ involvement makes sense when you consider what Halo is attempting to build. HaloBraid is designed to help professional stylists complete braids faster without taking the artistry out of their hands. A stylist begins the braid manually before the device takes over, matching their technique and, according to the company, completing the braid up to five times faster. The patent-pending device is expected to launch later this year.
François will work directly with Halo’s engineering team to test and refine the technology, bringing the type of knowledge that cannot necessarily be learned from a prototype or computer model. The stylist began doing locs, twists and braids at eight years old before entering the professional beauty industry at 14. Since then, his hands have touched some very famous heads, including Lupita Nyong’o, Serena and Venus Williams, Solange Knowles, Teyana Taylor, Iman, Halle Bailey and Willow Smith.
But his appointment also raises a larger and more interesting question for the beauty industry: What does innovation look like when the people who have spent decades actually doing the work are involved in building the technology?
“With Halo, I’m entering a conversation between two disciplines, hair artistry and engineering,” François said in a statement. “My mission as Creative Engineer is to bring decades of lived knowledge into the engineering process: to question, test, challenge, and explore where technology can remove unnecessary limitations while protecting the judgment, dexterity, and creativity that make hairdressing profoundly human.”
That distinction matters, particularly when artificial intelligence, automation and emerging technology are increasingly entering creative industries. Braiding is not simply a repetitive task waiting to be made faster. For Black communities especially, it is an art form, a profession, a cultural practice and, for generations of stylists, a pathway to entrepreneurship. Any technology attempting to enter that space without understanding the hands that built it would be missing the point entirely.
Halo CEO Yinka Ogunbiyi says François’ involvement is intended to keep professional stylists at the center of the development process. “Vernon’s role as Creative Engineer helps ensure our technology honors the expertise of the professional stylist and prioritizes the needs and dreams of the client,” Ogunbiyi said.
François has spent much of his career championing textured hair beyond the styling chair. In addition to founding his namesake VERNON FRANÇOIS Haircare line, he serves as a Global Brand Ambassador for OLAPLEX and an educator with the Ulta Beauty Artist Collective. His résumé makes him particularly equipped to occupy the increasingly blurry space between beauty professional, product developer and technologist.
And that may ultimately be the most compelling part of the partnership. HaloBraid is selling speed, but François’ involvement suggests the more consequential innovation could be something else entirely: recognizing that the people who have spent their lives braiding, twisting, locing and caring for textured hair aren’t simply consumers of beauty technology. They should be helping engineer its future.