A claw clip, also called a jaw clip, is a hair accessory with metal or plastic teeth that clamp into the wearer's hair.

Origin and design

The claw clip was designed by Christian Potut, a French businessman. In 1986, his company CSP Diffusion opened its first factory located in Oyonnax, France, where it produced plastic items like combs and yo-yos. "One day I kept crossing and uncrossing my fingers and that's when I had my lightbulb moment. I said to myself: 'I sell combs and clips, why don't I combine the two?'" he told the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. By the mid-1990s, the company sold hundreds of thousands of hair clips each month and had more than fifty employees. Potut's top markets were US and Japan. He did not apply for a patent, and though his design was protected in France, it was not legally protected worldwide. He told the BBC that "it's been copied because only good things are worth copying." The claw clip may have been inspired by the banana clip, which was popular during the 1980s.

History

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s, twisted

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held in place by the clip, and a "waterfall" style in which hair flows over of the top of the clip. Unlike tight hairstyles, claw clip updos result in less hair breakage. Claw clips were associated with

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's character

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on the TV show ''

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''. In 2018, an Alexander Wang fashion show featured large chrome silver claw clips stamped with Wang's name. Claw clips had a resurgence in the 2020s as part of the

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revival, gaining popularity on

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and receiving attention from celebrities such as

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, and

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. In several instances, car accidents have caused the clips to lodge into the wearers' heads.

References

{{Headgear 1990s fashion 2020s fashion Headgear Hairdressing