Ncumisa Duma, better known as Mimi or the Urban Mimz, is a natural hairstylist making
waves with her fierce creativity and hair art. Described as a “hair guru” and “telling stories
through hair” in recent Destiny Magazine and City Press profiles, Mimi’s hairstyling makes a
statement. She trained formally at Carlton Hair Academy and worked in a Carlton
salon for two years. During this time Mimi learnt about working with all types of hair, but
also that her creative vision would never be satisfied in a traditional salon. Mimi began
teaching herself about African hair textures, exploring different forms and structures and
revisiting her theatrical background to tap into the rising wave of Afrofuturism expression
and identities. Mimi has done hair for Terry Pheto, Andile Ncube and many other
contestants on the Glam Squad, and Thandiswa Mazwai’s Bonna cover shoot. She has done
hair for several avant-garde cover stories for Bubblegum Club, as well as Nike women’s run
campaigns The Pack, Caster Semenya and DJ Doowap, and Standard Bank’s Avant Card
campaign with Trevor Stuurman.