Once a year, hundreds of women with thousands of feet of hair flood into a Lithuanian arena for the World’s Longest Hair competition – a folkloric beauty pageant where obsession, tradition and identity converge.
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Drawn to the surreal spectacle, British photographer Francesca Allen travelled to the event (known locally as Konkursas Pasaulio Ilgaplaukes) with a Lithuanian friend to document the competition firsthand. Her resulting series, Plaukai (Lithuanian for “hair”), captures some of the nearly 200 participants - from young girls with untouched locks, to older women whose hair pools at their feet - as they walk the runway, get measured by gloved judges and take part in a ritualistic finale that must be seen to be believed.
This publication is a limited edition of 500, designed by Adam Ridgeway. It features a text by Frankie Dunn exploring the emotional, cultural and generational significance of long hair in 2025.
