Claw clip

A claw clip, also called a jaw clip, is a hair accessory with metal or plastic teeth that clamp into the wearer's hair.

Examples of claw clips

Origin and design

The claw clip was designed by Christian Potut, a French businessman.^[1] In 1986, his company CSP Diffusion opened its first factory located in Oyonnax, France, where it produced plastic items like combs and yo-yos.^[2] "One day I kept crossing and uncrossing my fingers and that's when I had my lightbulb moment. I said to myself: 'I sell combs and clips, why don't I combine the two?'" he told the BBC.^[2]

By the mid-1990s, the company sold hundreds of thousands of hair clips each month and had more than fifty employees. Potut's top markets were US and Japan. He did not apply for a patent, and though his design was protected in France, it was not legally protected worldwide. He told the BBC that "it's been copied because only good things are worth copying."^[2]

The claw clip may have been inspired by the banana clip, which was popular during the 1980s.^[3]

History

Claw clips were common in the 1990s when plastic hair accessories grew in popularity.^[4] Hairdos with claw clips tend to be simple and easy to perform, ranging from spiky 90s-style updos, twisted buns held in place by the clip, and a "waterfall" style in which hair flows over of the top of the clip.^[5] Unlike tight hairstyles, claw clip updos result in less hair breakage.^[6]

Claw clips were associated with Jennifer Aniston's character Rachel Green on the TV show Friends.^[7][3]

In 2018, an Alexander Wang fashion show featured large chrome silver claw clips stamped with Wang's name.^[3][8]

Claw clips had a resurgence in the 2020s as part of the Y2K fashion revival, gaining popularity on TikTok and receiving attention from celebrities such as Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and Hailey Bieber.^[9][10][5]

In several instances, car accidents have caused the clips to lodge into the wearers' heads.^[11][12][13]