Novi Business Helps Clients Go from Hairless to Care-less

Novi — A 19-year-old man sat in Rebekah Lakies’ styling chair in Salons by JC, hoping not only to hide genetic hair loss but to restore his self-confidence. The college student traveled from Kalamazoo to Novi for what Project Hair Company calls a “hair system,” which is a toupee-like hairpiece for men that blends in with the client’s biological hair.

According to DataHorizzon Research, the hair wig and extension market totaled $7.7 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $15.7 billion in the coming years. The 19-year-old, who did not want to be identified, said the business offers a rare option to do something about his hair loss, allowing him to fit in with his peers and look his age. The cost of the service: $600. It’s a price the Kalamazoo resident was willing to pay to feel and look more confident, he said.

Diversified Members Credit Union, based in downtown Detroit, highlighted the company’s work in light of August being National Hair Loss Awareness Month. According to Grand View Research, the U.S. market for hair replacement totaled $1.5 billion in 2022 and is projected for steady growth.

Lakies, a hair replacement expert, wants to raise awareness around cosmetic hair replacement, noting that there are options beyond wigs and transplants. She said the nonpermanent hair installations give clients the confidence to be out in society. “When you make people happy, confident, and you see the whole picture come together after so much nervousness, it’s huge,” Lakies said.

Clients experiencing hereditary pattern baldness, burns that kill hair growth, chemotherapy, variations of alopecia or scars from trying other methods to grow hair like surgery can get services by Lakies or Sara Micallef, the founder of Project Hair Company. “People are beginning to realize that hair loss can have many different causes, such as cancer, alopecia, thyroid or hormonal issues, or genetic factors,” Micallef said.

The hair replacement experts offer full bonding, perimeter bonding, clip-on “toppers,” toupee-like “systems” and strand-by-strand extensions that add density to existing hair. Women get “toppers,” which clip into the top of a woman’s head to hide thinning or hair loss near the hairline and cost around $1,000. The company sees about 200 clients on a yearly or monthly basis who are as young as 16-year-old and may even travel from states like Chicago and Ohio for services.

Micallef and Lakies help their clients develop a personalized plan for achieving the look they want by creating a hair prototype with the color, length and texture the client desires. The client then gets the hairpiece installed; it can last for anywhere from a couple of months for systems and up to a year for toppers. “Usually by the time they arrive in our chair, they’ve tried everything,” Micallef said, adding that some clients have even traveled to Turkey for hair transplant surgery. “We have clients that their own spouse has never seen them without their hair out. This is part of who they are. This is their image. This is the first thing people see is your face, your hair … and it’s very, very important for confidence,” she said.