By Kai Ma Photographs by Eric Sueyoshi
At Parisian Hairs & Wigs in South Los Angeles, rows of doe-eyed mannequins are adorned with faux tresses that range from short coifs to long, wavy manes. One even rocks a perfectly round purple Afro. As Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach” plays quietly in the background, Cynthia Park appears, her heavily-penciled brows arched above gold-rimmed glasses.
A devout Jehovah’s Witness prone to peppering her speech with Bible verses, Park, 71, opened her shop near the corner of Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards in 1968. On this July afternoon, she meanders through her store, exposing a labyrinth of floor-to-ceiling shelves stacked with artificial hair. When asked how many wigs are offered, Park says with a chuckle, “Many.”
[ad#336]
Park emigrated from Seoul in 1964, settling first in Los Angeles, then in Torrance, Calif., where she still resides. While working night shifts at a beef jerky factory, she attended the Marinello School of Beauty. Launching her own business as a new immigrant “was hard,” Park says. “But I was young.”
The store, a South Los Angeles fixture, has been used for shooting films, including Training Day (2001), starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. In the scene, a crack dealer played by Snoop Dogg is chased by a narcotics officer-in-training into the store. (Note: The storeowner in the film is an actress, not Park).
Parisian, which sits on a landmark Crenshaw strip, started off as a two-chair salon. For nearly two decades, a prominent sign displayed a side profile of a face with Jheri curls made out of wire spiraling from its skull. Four years ago, it was taken down.
[ad#336]
During the 1992 Los Angeles riots, nearby clothing and furniture businesses were torched and looted. Park’s store, however, did not suffer significant damage (though the front windows were destroyed, some merchandise was stolen, and smoke had seeped inside). “We were scared,” says Park. “All my friends helped to clean. And, Jehovah helped me.”
The sewing room. Here, the staff creates custom-made wigs, wiglets, hair tufts and toupees. Park, a beauty school grad, trains each employee how to cut, style and add hair extensions. Her workforce has included up to a dozen staffers but due to the economic downturn, it has recently shrunk to five.
The weaving station. Park developedcher own “pull method” of weaving in extensions, which is offered bycappointment only. Her customers appreciate Park’s natural-looking approach. “They don’t want to look too wig-ish,” she explains. “If too bulky, don’t turn out pretty.”
[ad#336]
Hair extensions—made from human hair only—are stockpiled and labeled by color, style and price. They range from straight flyaway locks to tiny ringlets.
All of Park’s products are sent from Asia (mainly Indonesia). The wigs are made from both human and synthetic hair.
Parisian Hairs & Wigs
4102 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles
(323) 296-6450
www.parisianhair.com
