Over the last few months we’ve watched in awe as creativity flourished within the confines of people’s homes. Now, as measures begin to ease (at least for the moment) we share the final chapter in our lockdown tales, hopefully for good.

We were first drawn to Clay Grandison’s otherworldly hair creations on Instagram, where Grandison, a Fashion Communication student at London’s Central Saint Martins, has been documenting a variety of quarantine looks. “During lockdown I wanted to create a series based on the process of dressing up,” Grandison explains, “it has a real DIY feel to it, I think the limitations at this time have created a really exciting way to work – it makes becoming ‘ethereal’ a little more difficult, and therefore a lot more creative.” With limited resources at her disposal, Grandison has thrown herself into the challenge, relying entirely on her styling skills and burgeoning knowledge of fashion history to refashion her existing clothes and wigs into an array of looks referencing everything from sci-fi to Old Hollywood. “I like to take on new characters and new bodies, picking multiple stories, based in reality or fantasy,” she says. “These characters are people or creatures that I can relate to, and that I think are important. I like to re-visualise them with hair and clothing, I find the process so therapeutic.”

Grandison moved back in with her family for the lockdown, which – despite the obvious challenges of abruptly finding themselves under the same roof again – has paved the way for new and unexpected conversations. “To have my family see what I do and have open conversations about my art has been one of the blessings of lockdown, as it has brought me closer to them,” she says. “Working on hair with my mum has been therapeutic and has led to new conversations about the significance of my work and the power of hair, something I never thought I would discuss with her.”

Despite college being closed during the lockdown, Grandison has been able to continue with her studies to an extent, by accessing pre-recorded lectures. ”Some of the staff and students at CSM are in different countries across different time zones, and have done tutorials with us in the middle of the night, bless them,” she says. “As media and styling students, many of us have had to adapt, and not just on Zoom. Darkrooms, diverse teams and studio facilities make up a big part of our practice. To have that suddenly taken away for an uncertain period of time left us all feeling a little disoriented. A lot of us are finding ways through it by resorting to ‘Covid measures’ – doing set design over Facetime, developing film our bathroom sinks and using our dads as models.”