For almost 3 years now, the wig industry has struggled to keep up with demand. Recently, rumors of the lace shortage are resurfacing to explain shortages in wigs and hair extensions. Shoppers may have noticed this issue with less wig availability in stores, long shipping delays for online wig orders, and increased wig prices. There have been even instances of companies sidling customers with extra fees after their wig purchase. While the increase in price for importing and exporting goods has been associated with many shortages, the wig industry experiences specific challenges. To be precise, the increase in demand, shortages in production, and rising cost of shipping create a unique and challenging nexus of hurdles for the wig industry.
The increased demand for wigs understandably contributes to the shortage of lace fronts and hair. Reporters speculate that there are two main factors that contribute to increased demand: the pandemic and trend cycle. During the pandemic, women who typically stuck to high-maintenance styles like relaxers, perms, and weaves were unable to go to a salon. As a result, many women who wouldn’t usually invest in a wig decided to try wearing one. However, even after the lockdown ended, wigs have continued to grow in popularity quarter after quarter. The second factor that explains the increased demand is the trend cycle. The variability and flexibility of wigs make them a good breeding ground for trends, especially amongst younger women. The increased variety of colors, lengths, and styles available for wigs means that many women want to buy more than just one. Additionally, the wig trend has gotten a boost from people’s increased candidness about wearing wigs. Whereas in the past there has been a stigma around wearing fake hair, it is more common now for people to talk about their wigs, especially online, where wig wearers swap tips, tricks and favorite products. Many consumers are embracing the versatility, creativity and convenience offered by wigs.
Coupled with the increased demand, shortages in wig production create a strain on both producers and consumers. Wigs consist of two main elements: lace and hair. Inconveniently, both of these raw commodities are difficult to source at the moment. Lace is mainly imported from Switzerland, with smaller percentages of the global supply being produced in France and South Korea. Swiss lace is the most coveted by the industry due to its quality. In 2020, the demand for wigs became so high that it superseded Swiss production companies’ estimates, leading to the supply of Swiss lace being completely depleted. This created a global shortage that will continue until 2024. The amount of lace production in France and South Korea did not reach expectations due to significant factory shutdowns in 2020 to 2021. The producers are still working to restore the supply to pre-pandemic levels and account for increased demand. The supply of hair suffered from similar issues, with the pandemic significantly slowing the work of factories who process human hair. Additionally, the American Hair Loss Council reports that the hair shortage is also due to decline in hair donations. This could be because the majority of hair donations come from India and China, where the pandemic had an extreme effect on economic and population growth.
Finally, the rising rate of shipping and import and export fees make wigs more expensive and scarcer. As you’ve probably gathered at this point, wig making is a pointedly global industry spanning multiple continents. Most raw materials for wigs are made in different countries in far reaching areas of the globe. Those materials then have to be exported to a wig manufacturer, where the wig is made and often imported again to another continent. This process means that the supply chain for wigs is incredibly delicate. A wig maker in Baltimore can’t get lace fronts because they’re backordered from the company that makes them. In the same way, that company can’t get lace because it is backordered. The reason this problem is so difficult is because all of these producers are extremely likely to be in different countries and continents. This distance means that even as supply begins to rebuild, it may still be a few years before the wig shortage ends completely.
Macey Jacobs is a blog writer for Revolution. This article was edited by Meliha Ural.
Comments