Why the Hair Straightener? Rachel the hairy trend setter episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 30, 2025 · 46 MIN

Why the Hair Straightener? Rachel the hairy trend setter

from Why the Fork: Everyday design for curious minds

Our hair, and how it looks, plays a huge part in our identity.From beehives to bobs and from quiffs to comb-overs, your hair-do says a lot about who you are.And the hair straightener has played a bigger role in that than you may think, for longer than you might have realised.Long before GHD was a thing, people were getting rid of their curls to fit in, and conform to social standards and norms - but those designs were far from what we use today.As Creative Innovator and inventor of consumer goods, Ben Diamant, finds out, the hair straightener's story includes racism, phantom inventors, burning hair and (possibly most importantly) Rachel from Friends.Ben talks to product design expert Phil Staunton, founder of D2M, about how he used the hair straightener design to create something completely different, and how you take new products to market.They also speak to an expert in hair straightener design - Sam Fordlay from Original Catapult Developments.FOLLOW THE SHOW:https://www.instagram.com/whytfpod/LINKShttps://www.linkedin.com/in/bendiamant/https://www.linkedin.com/in/philstaunton/https://www.linkedin.com/in/s%CE%B1m-fordlay-26024458/?originalSubdomain=ukhttps://www.instagram.com/original_catapult_developments/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/original-catapult-developments/?originalSubdomain=ukhttps://www.design2market.co.uk/Podcast production by: https://www.gingerwizard.co.uk/86b4d4d095c23ce6901cd4189d98c0ce7dbd7b06

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jul 30, 2025

Embed this episode

Ready to play

Why the Hair Straightener? Rachel the hairy trend setter

0:00 46:06

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Why the Fork: Everyday design for curious minds?

This episode is 46 minutes long.

When was this Why the Fork: Everyday design for curious minds episode published?

This episode was published on July 30, 2025.

Is there a transcript available for this episode?

Yes, a full transcript is available for this episode. You can read the complete transcript on the episode page.

Can I download this Why the Fork: Everyday design for curious minds episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!